I don't know, I think this year will go down in nerd history as the year that high end android died and "good enough" android became king, leaving apple with the high end.
You might be right about that. With subsidies going away it is hard to argue that any devices but the iPhone is really "worth" $700+.
I also think that we are seeing the limits of the common form factor for phones and tablets. I mean, Apple didn't even come out with a new 10 inch tablet this year and BARELY announced their new mini tablet. All the focus was on a business tablet in a hope that there is some larger or different form factor that can drive the kind of growth they are used to.
Phones are even worse off. Android design probably hit a peak back with the M7, and it wouldn't be worth buying 2015 iPhones if they wouldn't have gimped 2014 models with 1GB of RAM. The big "new" feature of the iPhone 6S adds in a complexity that even the biggest Apple fans in my life admit is too nuanced for the average person. The real holdup with the iPhone form factor is all the wasted bevel on the 6+S, and I expect the iPhone 7 to fix that (making it the last iPhone anyone really needs to buy).
Oh and wearables don't look like the windfall they looked to be in 2014. There is still progress to be made in that area for the hardware, but anyone who was seen the female Apple Watch can tell you that touch targets on a watchface that doesn't look ridiculous on a female wrist are so small they might as well not be there.
We need real innovation in the form factors to drive growth, like holographic screens so something like a fitbit can have a four inch screen space. Or a foldable tablet that can fit in your pocket.
Until we get that smartphones become yet another commodity, except for iPhones (and only iPhones, the poor iPad lacks the prestige) which become a luxury good.
