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One Wall Street analyst has lashed out at Apple, claiming the Mac maker's innovation is "sputtering" on the back of its failure to introduce touchscreen notebooks and desktop all-in-ones.

Despite anticipation of a record holiday quarter, the Cupertino firm lacks the inventive touch it once had, Global Equities Research MD Trip Chowdhry said this week.

“Why is that Apple, the company that brought touch to phones and tablets, stopped just there and did not bring touch to notebooks and iMacs?" he said in a research note to clients.

Perhaps Mr Chowdhry has forgotten that the firm's late co-founder and CEO, Steve Jobs, was against the idea of touchscreens on computers, maintaining the view that "touch surfaces want to be horizontal."

Jobs said in October 2010: "We've done tons of user testing on [computers with touchscreens] and it turns out it doesn't work." Apple's solution was to make laptop touchpads larger, release a standalone touchpad for desktops, and add touchscreen-type gesture controls to all of them,

Then again, with the recent launch of an 8in iPad, Apple has been known to backtrack on the wise words of its former frontman.

Chowdhry's idea of innovation stretches to high-definition displays too.

"Why is it that Apple brought high-resolution screens to... some MacBooks and not to all devices? High-resolution screens are a commodity today.”

There is of course a reason for Apple's lack of creative development and Chowdhry fingers the need for a three-to-four year product road map.

"If a roadmap existed, engineers would not be pushed to ship products prematurely — especially when they are not fully tested,” he added, referring to the iOS 6 Maps debacle and its alleged outcome: the departure of iOS chief Scott Forstall.

Still, the company's shares continue to rise and profits are expected to reach $52bn by the end of the year. Doesn't look like the cash flow is "sputtering" at least. ®

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