WWDC marks the unofficial start of Apple's newest product cycle. But unlike previous instances, Apple heads into this one facing more competition than it has had at any point since the launch of the original iPhone. Chiefly, that competition comes from Samsung, whose Galaxy smartphone line has leapfrogged the iPhone for market share supremacy in the United States, at least for now. But Apple is also dealing with a shifting smartphone industry in which low-cost phones are quickly improving in quality, and fewer and fewer consumers are willing to pay premium prices for high-end products. As such, Apple's summer of product launches may well be focused, for the first time, on price-conscious rather than status-conscious buyers.