Apple is first and foremost a public company that must provide a return on investment to shareholders.
As a result, Apple has shifted focus to consumers... an area largely ignored by computer companies who otherwise rebrand corporate products to appeal to consumers. Apple is not just ipods and iphones... but consumer products. How many laptops have been sold because someone first bought an ipod or iphone and fell in love with it? A LOT!!!
How many average-joe consumers buy a clunky old desktop computer any more?
If anyone asks me to recommend a PC or help them buy a computer, I always say, "Get a laptop"... you get everything you would in a desktop now a days with portability to boot.
Apple's growth in the consumer space is good... it means more product refreshes and more choice as they diversify the lineup. The Macbook Air has had two refreshes since it was introduced just over a year ago! The 30" ACD has not had a refresh in 5 years because it's not a consumer product.
As for premium pricing... there is a strategy behind that as well... and it goes back to their fundamental reason for being... to make money. With just 10% of the computer market share compared to Dell and HP which own the other 80-90%, Apple actually brings in more profit than both of those two combined!
There's no money to be made selling junk computers for $500-$1000.
Apple will never own the corporate IT desktop or the bargain basement PC market, but they can (and do) own the premium consumer space... and that's a good space to be in as share prices indicate.