[kenjackson]

I think you missed my point. They face a crisis even if their sales do NOT drop. They face a crisis if Verizon says to them, "We are no longer willing to give you a subsidy premium. You will get the same subsidy rates as the Samsung Galaxy Sx." Apple will continue to sell at the same rate, but their revenue will drop substantially.

On top of that is the fear of their sales actually dropping if carriers stop doing subsidies altogether (which is the direction they are going).

[gress]

Carriers still get much higher ARPU from iPhone users. While that is true, the subsidy will remain.