Actually somebody already did. Microsoft gets a lot of flak for its design skills, but I think they did splendidly with WP7. Having used a Lumia 800 for a week I was extremely disappointed to go back to my iPhone 4S. I believe that the future of the smartphone market is a battle for supremacy between WP7 and Android, and I for one am rooting for WP7. Apple's last 'successful' iPhone might well be the next one they release, unless they have got something incredible cooking.

If someone is going to innovate past Apple, they can't just make a sligtly better iPhone or iPad, they need to invent the new product category that will make one of those devices irrelevant.

Not true, but I'm assuming you're referring to the springboard/icon/home button paradigm.

You think this isn't by choice?

"software" vision != TouchWiz, Motoblur, HTC sense, widgets or any of that crap.

"software" vision = ease of use, speed, elegance, stability, secured (NO viruses/malware/spyware), good developer support, good ecosystem.

Foxconn isn't going to hand Apple a permanent monopoly over efficient processes to the detriment of their domestic buddies. That's not how China works.

Every day that goes by, Apple's lead will erode in both quality of product and manufacturing advantage. It's not due to anything Apple will do wrong, it's due to how markets work, particularly in technology.

However, Apples biggest advantage is the enormous cash reserve they have, which enables them to get extremely good deals on essential parts such as flash memory and displays. This has nothing to do with where the devices are manufactured. Even when selling plastic tablets, other companies have a hard time matching the price of iPads (and now MacBook Airs).

You don't have to like it, but the answer is: the same country that now owns Hong Kong.

Foxconn is a Chinese company. It's why they're given special privileges that no foreign company can ever get, when it comes to everything from trade protections to labor regulations.

For one, Foxconn is Taiwanese, not Chinese, it's just that it has factories in China.

Second, money is how China works. Where does the delusion comes that China will ...sabotage Apple in chinese factories in order for Chinese device makers to win?

As a matter of fact, China is opening to be Apple's largest market, with raving reception this past year.

Tell me... how is "China" going to copy Apple's well-curated ecosystem of apps, content and accessories?

They're a Chinese company. Period. If China believed differently, they wouldn't be allowed to do what they do in domestic China.

China is nationalistic first, concerned with money second. That has always been the case and will always be the case. There's no amount of money that can buy you a lot of segments in their country; there are countless monster companies locked out of China right now, who would willingly pay countless billions just to get proper access to their markets - China promotes their domestic giants first, always.

Sure, after being called on it, you are suddenly "well aware".

Anyway, it's not a technicality by any stretch of the word --it's where the company was founded and where its headquarters are. A different country. Not to mention that they also have factories in 6-7 other countries besides China.

(Plus, it's not like China and Taiwan are in best terms, anyway, such that a taiwanese company could suddenly, by some mysterious process, turn into a "de facto" chinese one. Taiwan and China are not like US and Kayman Islands).

If China believed differently, they wouldn't be allowed to do what they do in domestic China. China is nationalistic first, concerned with money second.

I don't see China being any more nationalistic than the US is. At least they aren't invading all other the place, nor do they play "world cop". As for China protecting it's national interests, more power to them.