The thing is, there are NO challengers in the hardware arena. Google et al do software pretty well and will continue to improve. But who else could create hardware as beautiful and functional as Apple? I've been a Windows-then-Linux guy for 15 years and it's the hardware behind MacBooks and iPhones that drew me to Apple. There is simply NO competition. And, unfortunately, it's much easier to be a software startup than a hardware startup. Microsoft and Google aren't even playing the same game.