The generated cashflow of a company is tightly connected to the utility of the products they offer. In case of mining, it's likely the expected nominal yield of the hardware. However, the economics of mining is still not settled. It can range from profit mining to subsistence mining to defensive mining. Defensive mining results from an environment where the utility of mining is not capped by the nominal yield, but by he ability to govern the bitcoin. In such an environment the utility of the produced hardware is greater than the expected nominal yield and should allow companies to demand a higher price than the naive economic calculus would suggest.

I sympathize with your sentiment that it would be disappointing if a growth company would stop to innovate. For that reason it is important for ASICMINER to closely watch the needs of the mining community and respond in a timely manner. As far as Microsoft and Apple goes, they pursued very different strategies and were blessed with the necessary luck. Unfortunately there is no standard recipe for entrepreneurial success, except to be responsive. That said - what do you think would be the next big move for a company like ASICMINER?