Apple's release of the iPhone 5S, 5C, and the iPad Air really got me thinking about their position in the marketplace and their product innovation. Apple hasn't had had a significant technological advance that actually surprised consumers and the industry since Siri. Only a few years ago Apple was literally defining the mobile computing industry. Every move they made left the entire industry scrambling. But now, they give us 5 different sizes of the iPad and a fingerprint scanner. Apple is starting to look like Samsung who can't even decide on a good phone size.

Some of you will think I've really lost my marbles in saying this, but I would argue that Apple is no longer on the leading edge of innovation and could soon no longer be the market leader.

Apple's products are becoming much more mainstream and gaining massive popularity, market share, and revenue, but they aren't wowing us anymore. Consumers are eating up Apple products, but in their minds, Apple is no longer leading the industry in innovation and technology.

Think about Apple's history of products and their impact on our society and way of living:

January 2001 - iTunes launches, completely disrupting the music industry as we knew it and making the first headway into the paid digital music industry and bringing with it the rising popularity of "singles" - the way most music is now consumed.
October 2001 - The first iPod was introduced, revolutionizing mobile music as you could now carry an entire music library (1,000 songs) in your pocket.
January 2007 - iPhone. Need I say more? Palm Computing (U.S. Robotics) and RIM had internet-connected phones before the iPhone, but the "smartphone" was truly born with the introduction of the iPhone. This mobile supercomputer in our pocket revolutionized our world.
July 2008 - With 100,000 apps in the app store and 1.5 billion downloads in the first year, the App Store launched the "app revolution," creating an entirely new $25 billion-a-year industry.
January 2010 - iPad. Still the model and epitome of a "tablet" computer. For most people not in the technology industry, "iPad" has even become the generic trademark for any and all tablet computers.

These products blew our minds when Steve Jobs first announced them. These products revolutionized the way we live our lives. Apple knew what we wanted before we did ourselves. Compare those to the recent products released by Apple. Apple's latest product developments could have been called from a mile away. They're simply different iterations and enhanced features on products we've had for the past decade.

Consumers still jump at the chance to buy the latest Apple product, but that competitive advantage won't last for much longer if Apple doesn't step up its game. Google's Android is killing Apple in global sales. Companies are no longer waiting for Apple to define the industry for them. Pretty soon, consumers won't be waiting either. They'll be looking to new startup wearable technology companies and others to define the industry and Apple will lose its foothold.

This just goes to show that even the largest and most coveted brands can still falter. A brand's focus always needs to be on the consumers and always pushing the envelope to solve problems consumers didn't know they had in the first place.

As a disclaimer, I will admit that I am an Apple fanboy and currently own an iPhone, a MacBook Pro, an iPad, and a first-gen iPod Touch. I love the products I own and am a truly loyal customer, but this is my charge to Apple to step up their game. Apple still makes amazing products with seamless design and UX/UI, but Apple isn't wowing me anymore. They were the ones that set the innovation bar in the clouds with their products. I would like to see that bar continued to be raised.