Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has been on a run lately -- it's selling Mac computers an an ever-increasing pace, the iPhone is successfully being transitioned as the successor to the iPod universe (even with those two-year contracts!. The company can't seem to do any wrong. It literally is selling all it can, even in a recession. How can Apple do this? Its prices are not cheap and the company shies away from discounts. Well, Apple also has a marketing gold touch that's unmatched anywhere in any industry, and that's the competitive advantage.

But the gold path can last forever, right? Will the tightness of consumers' wallets and purses ever put a damper on Apple's business? That's the thinking for 2009 -- the economy will catch up to Apple's sales and the company will experience at least a little bit of the slowdown that is catching retailers like a noose around the neck. Mac sales even declined in November by 1% over the same period in 2007 at the same time overall PC sales increased 2%. The problem was desktop Mac sales, which bombed 35%. Apple's laptop sales were still on fire, though.

Will Apple see a more pronounced slowdown after the holiday sales season is over? That's anyone's guess, but it seems logical. Until the economic rut is lifted, it's hard to imagine that financially fickle consumers will be shelling out $1,000+ for a new Apple laptop PC at the drop of a hat during the first half of 2009. Plenty will, but also plenty won't. Those that won't will opt for cheaper PCs, which sell for half the cost of an Apple laptop in may cases -- and price sensitivity will be the order of the day for 2009 consumerism. Apple best be prepared for reality.