Amid hype, Apple iPhone expansion also runs risks

To sustain that momentum and keep fickle consumers and Wall Street happy, the company needs a dramatic second act with the next generation of iPhones, which roll out Friday with faster Internet access and lower retail prices.

But even with Apple's untouchable image in the eyes of the Macintosh faithful, there are no guarantees against a letdown for the company or its volatile stock.

After all, Apple has stumbled before in its foray into the cellular business, with a poorly executed price cut two months after the iPhone launch that left many early buyers fuming. And now that it's a significant part of the wireless market, Apple faces some of the same threats as more-established handset makers.

Among those pressures: intensifying competition and the uncertainty of a fractured market with many big players. There's also the risk that even with Apple's sparkling reputation, the iPhone might become so widely available that it loses some of the cachet that inspires buyers to wait in lines outside stores.

No one disputes that Apple and Chief Executive Steve Jobs have rattled the cell phone industry with the iPhone's design and features, which are furiously being copied by other handset makers.

And Apple appears on track to meeting its sales targets for the iPhone--essential to appeasing investors.

However, unlike with the iPod, which became a blockbuster thanks partly to the device's tie-in with the iTunes music service, Apple is wrestling a crowded field of entrenched competitors with the iPhone.

That means Apple must maintain the iPhone's cool factor as rival handset makers race to catch up. The landscape could look even tougher after new types of phones and applications emerge with Google Inc.'s upcoming Android mobile operating system.

"It's something that's still probably overlooked--people aren't thinking that the iPhone is a product that could get commoditized. People have made the assumption that it will continue to generate strong margins," said Andy Hargreaves, consumer electronics analyst with Pacific Crest Securities. "But you have to start thinking about it."