Are Apple Execs Begging For A 'Radically New' Product?

The Mac maker has not introduced a new product category since the original iPad was released in April 2010.

Since that time, Apple AAPL has upgraded its tablet four times (two of which occurred in the same year) and released two ‘mini' variations.

Apple also revised the MacBook Air with a smaller form factor, an improved battery and flash memory for all models. The iMac received an overhaul as well.

Apple last fall finally released a new version of its popular Mac Pro machine. Before that, the company revised its MacBook Pro lineup by bringing flash memory and a Retina Display to the notebooks, among other tweaks.

Related: Apple's 12.9-Inch iPad Rumored For October 2014

Despite all of these revisions/upgrades, Apple's 2013 portfolio was not very different from the one it had in 2010.

ABG Sundal Collier analyst Per Lindberg thinks that this must be very frustrating for Apple's top brass.

“I'm sure Apple, internally, is very frustrated that they have not been able to launch anything really radically new in the last three or four years apart from the fiasco surrounding Apple Maps,” Lindberg told Benzinga.

Up until iOS 6 arrived in 2012, Apple used Google Maps as its default mapping application. The company decided to replace Google after developing its own app, which it had hoped to use as a major selling point for the iPhone 5. That initiative failed, prompting Apple CEO Tim Cook to apologize for the disappointing app and recommend several alternatives.

Apple is rumored to be working on an improved Maps app, but the iPhone's continued growth indicates that it doesn't need its own mapping application to win over consumers.

In addition to a new Maps app, Apple is also expected to release a larger iPhone in 2014. Analysts hope that the company will also introduce its first smart watch and a groundbreaking television, among other new products.

Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report.