Common wisdom, and logic for that matter, dictate that the hardware world will continually be consolidated into a few large players (Apple, Google, Samsung). We see this in the Apple vs Android wars.
But if you think about it, thats kind of like saying that there will only be a few websites on the internet, or only a few newspapers in circulation.
As the cost of production goes down, competition increases, and although large players will maintain their dominance for sometime, their market share will be cannibalized by young, innovative, hungry startups.
I think that as costs continue to go down, you will see the hardware market becoming more competitive rather than becoming more consolidated, Bitcoin can act as a "lowest common denominator" for these start ups that dont have access to a decent payment system, or who are uninterested in maintaining the status quo
Will.i.am is launching his own smart watch, the puls, by the end of the year. A lot of small start ups will be taking on the big guys, and they all need a payment system...
P.S. FirstBits would be great for these new wearable devices
I think your comparison is fatally flawed. You are attempted to compare a business that requires a huge amount of capital to start, like a device manufacturer, with a webpage that requires virtually none (anyone can make a webpage, not everyone can start a mobile device manufacturing company).
