The device was an instant status-symbol and media darling--Time Magazine called it the "Invention of the Year." People loved its form and function, if not the service of its anointed carrier in the USA. Of course, modified versions of the phone, which could be used with different carriers, were traded across the world. Apple officially frowned on this practice, but the sales (estimated at half a million handsets in China alone) and brand-development probably didn't hurt.

Enterprises were slow to adopt policies aimed at the iPhone (and its later cousin, the iPad), but the BYOD-culture has forced CIOs to adapt. The communication power of these handhelds has changed culture, behavior and security-policies from SMEs to regulated banks.

But the iPhone has fallen from grace. When it was a shiny new icon, there was no equivalent. Few craved a Motorola Razr in late-2007. And the release of the iPhone 4 in 2010 was a gestalt-shift. Since then?

In the mobile-space, it's "what have you done for me lately?" What Apple's done is release a marginally better unit: the 4S. Its "secret weapon," Siri--a voice-activated digital "assistant"--hasn't set the mobile world spinning. Instead, units from vendors like Samsung which, unlike Apple's, offer a variety of screen sizes, output-ports, replaceable batteries and memory-expansion slots, have become popular. Take a look around any MTR carriage.

Apple's business-model, which includes the iPad tablet and its line of computing products, has made them the world's largest technology company. They've had other issues: lawsuits alleging copyright infringement, questionable working conditions at plants that manufacture their components, creeping malware issues, the rollout of iCloud, and dissent on the value of their latest OS X release. The success of the iPad has been unprecedented, as has the acceptance of Macintosh computers in the workplace. Perhaps Apple took its eye off the ball when it comes to the iPhone.