[likeclockwork]

It doesn't matter. Apple products are bought by people who buy Apple products. They will buy the iPhone 7, they will buy the iPhone 8. Apple has no competition in this market, there's no differentiation on features, only Apple makes Apple products.

They will buy Apple Product X, they will buy Apple Product Y.

Anyone who believes profit is the most potent measure of success can always point at Apple and say "those people are doing the right thing".

[WritelyDesigned]

If we're going to use profit as a measuring stick for a company doing the right thing—then it seems relevant to mention the fact that Apple's stock has fallen over the last several years and has continued in that trend.

I don't personally hold the view that this directly reflects a company's innovative quality, but again if that's the measuring stick, it only seems to further the argument that Apple's design decisions aren't what they used to be.

http://fortune.com/2016/05/06/apple-shares-two-year-low/

[stouset]

http://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AAPL

In this case, the past few days would tend to counter your thesis. Also, the current dip is shorter than the one from Sep '12 to Jul '14, at which point they rebounded dramatically and pushed ever-higher highs. Do you believe they stopped making good design decisions around then?