Expensive hardware has been dead for a while. That's why Apple had such disappointing preorders of the new iPhone and has been lagging behind Samsung in tablet sell-through.
Or, maybe not.
A while ago netbooks were all the rage. Now tablets. Next will be ________ and it will be cool, for sure.
The issue behind TFA is the same issue that's been around for about 4 years now. Entry level hardware is completely capable of meeting the needs of 90+% of consumers.
Tech companies keep innovating and trying to maintain Moore's law. There will always be a $1000 top-of-the-line Extreme Edition Ultra Uber chip, and people will always buy them, helping the tech companies pay for the R+D so that after a while the $1000 chip will be available for $35 on Tiger Direct.
iPhones are not expensive hardware, they cost about $200 or so.
iPads are not expensive hardware either, apparently.
Perhaps the real premise is expensive high-end desktop PCs are dead. Except for render stations, CAD stations, gamers, etc.
hmmm.... Well....