Just a couple of years ago, Apple was truly hitting its stride: the expanse of its loyal base and seemingly unstoppable growth made it clear that the house that Jobs built was becoming the indisputable king of tech companies. Now, some people will say that this is still the case, but ever since the death of erstwhile company head Steve Jobs, the company's momentum has been waning, and surprisingly fast. The real problem, however, has not been anything Apple has necessarily done: it's more about perception. With any regime change - with Tim Cook coming in in this case - a company becomes instantly scrutinized for every single thing it doesn't do. After losing someone as revered by Apple fans as Steve Jobs, the company chose to tone it down with only small changes to products each year and "safe" releases (we'll get back to that). As a result, customers are perceiving Apple as a mere shadow of what it once was, a dangerous place to be in when you're literally famous for being a consistent innovator. On a positive note, Apple is still... well, rich. People still buy Apple products, and the technology titan has enough resources to make a successful comeback. It just may take some significant moves...