Apple brand
While all of what you said might be true, what I admire about this brand is the range of age group that it connects with. While we grew up we saw the growing of Apple products in our lives and now even my kid is an ardent follower of the brand and everything apple (including watching the live event). That's pretty amazing if you think about it.
Oh I missed the key note as I was out watching a movie. Incidentally, I always thought that the keynote was never a 'how' but a bit of 'why' and was a marketing masterclass by Steve Jobs. Unfortunately Tim Cooks has had to keep that legacy going but he doesn't have that magic sauce to pull it off. And yes Apple has always stood for me as a leading edge brands which had the arrogance to be ahead of consumer needs which it has now been finding it difficult to keep up with. They are running dry on imagination and are looking like catching up with the androids and not game changers anymore. Having said that, apple was never about category creation but always about delivering a delightful experience. To that extent, they are still being consistent.
Actually I wouldn't hold it against them for the failure to push other product categories. To be honest, there is a big fish to fry already based on their businesses in phones, computers and itunes as also app Store. Chasing these already means that they have to compete with content companies and that could be a big distraction. So I am sympathetic to their inability to open multiple fronts. Of course, this creates a huge challenge from portfolio point of view in terms of future cash flows. Stock market doesn't seem to worry though apart from the cost escalation due to China trade war.
Fair challenge. We have been through many Corporate strategies having succeeded and then failed. Of course case studies are only done for the failed ones 😉