The latest debacle with the Eth network is the Status ICO crowdsale. It seems to have congested the ETH blockchain and now transactions are stuck in queue. Price just dropped 15% on polo and it seems to keep going down.
Looks like we just got our first glimpse at Eth's major problem - IT DOES NOT SCALE!
So what happens when all these apps start getting used? simple answer is Eth grinds to a halt. All of this money invested in a broken product.
About the scaling I believe this is why they want to switch over to proof of stake eventually. But I think you are correct at least in the short term the problems in the ethereum blockchain are going to continue for a while.