And that bodes well for Apple (AAPL). Because while its sales might be slowing along with the rest of the industry (though not nearly as badly; the company’s unit sales rose only nine percent in the December quarter, down from a 44 percent increase in the year prior), its price points and profit margins are holding nice and steady.

And that bodes well for Apple (AAPL). Because while its sales might be slowing along with the rest of the industry (though not nearly as badly; the company’s unit sales rose only nine percent in the December quarter, down from a 44 percent increase in the year prior), its price points and profit margins are holding nice and steady.

There are some customers which we chose not to serve. We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that. But we can continue to deliver greater and greater value to those customers that we choose to serve. And there’s a lot of them. We’ve seen great success by focusing on certain segments of the market and not trying to be everything to everybody. So I think you can expect us to stick with that winning strategy and continue to try to add more and more value to those products in those customer bases we choose to serve.”

– Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Oct. 2008

Perhaps Macworld Expo 2009 will have its “one more thing” after all.

In a note to clients this morning, Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research speculates that Apple (AAPL) will indeed launch a new product category at Macworld in early January. A netbook designed to leverage Apple’s design prowess and its online delivery system as well. “[The device] will provide Web access, email, media playing, and essential applications at a single low price,” Gottheil writes. “Computer beginners will be able to start using it quickly and easily. Users will have fewer questions, problems, conflicts and security breaches, as the device will be less intimidating than both PCs and Macs. As with the iPhone, iTunes and the App Store will offer an array of content, applications and games. As with the iPhone, the software can be rebuilt from the App Store. With an optional online backup service, the entire device can be restored…. Because all applications are delivered through the iTunes App Store, Apple will maintain sustained relationships with users, making it easier to upsell and cross-sell to existing customers. TBR believes Apple will make online services like MobileMe increasingly attractive to all customers, but purchasers of the new Apple device may find its simplicity especially appealing.”

Now, I know Gottheil’s the guy who said “Apple doesn’t need Jobs anymore”–blasphemy! But the scenario he lays out above makes quite a bit of sense, doesn’t it?

If such a device is indeed uncrated at Macworld, Gottheil expects it will arrive at market around midyear at prices beginning at $599–$99 more than the $500 computer Apple CEO Steve Jobs claims the company doesn’t know how to make….

Yet, Apple doesn’t need him–according to Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research, who says the iCEO could be replaced by COO Tim Cook and Jonathan Ive, Apple’s senior vice president for industrial design.

“Apple doesn’t need Jobs anymore,” Gottheil said. “He’s established three sound businesses–Mac, iPod and the iPhone–and the company knows how to execute his fanatical devotion to design and usability. There’s a stable management team in place, and they know what they’re doing. Without Jobs, Apple would have to pay a lot more to get the world’s attention. But he’s got a company and a brand and an organization and a strategy in place. There’s no reason to think that those things can’t be carried forward without him.”

Perhaps not–Jobs wouldn’t permit things to unfold otherwise. But there’s no reason to think that they’ll ever be quite the same either.