Apple needs to launch a new product soon in order to return to growth, the CEO of Firsthand Technology Value Fund told CNBC on Tuesday.
"Growth in tech is always about new products, and what we've had for the last couple of years out of Apple (has) been a lot of talk about coming products, but there's not really a new product out there that is the got-to-have thing that everyone is running out and buying right now," Kevin Landis said on "Squawk on the Street."
Also Tuesday, CNBC's Jim Cramer said it doesn't appear that Apple can do anything about its tailspin, and he likened the company to beleaguered JC Penney.
(Read More: Cramer: Apple Is 'Becoming the JC Penney of Tech')
The iPhone maker hasn't released a product since October when it unveiled the iPad mini, and according to analysts Apple isn't expected to launch any products until later this year.
(Read More: Expect Tech to Pop This Quarter: Trader)
Apple isn't alone though. the tech industry as a whole is struggling to introduce innovative products, Landis said.
"If you look over the course of a decade at technology, there's a lot of great innovation, but if you (look) at the course over a few months, sometimes even a whole year, there's not always a blockbuster product out there, and that can give you some sort of dull spots in the growth curve and I think we are just going through one of those right now," Landis said.
Wearable technology could be a game changer for the industry, he said.
(Read More: Goodbye Apple iPhone? Wearable Tech Is Coming)
Apple, Google and Samsung are all reportedly working on smartwatches, and Google is working to roll out its Internet-connected glasses—called Google Glass—to the mass market by the end of the year.
(Read More: Google Is Working on a Smart Watch, Too)
But the tech giants are coming late to the game and losing out to upstarts, Landis said.
"You are always hearing about these wearable products, whether it's a watch or you call it something else, that's pretty fascinating. It's spurred by really cheap sensor technology," Landis said. "The problem is a lot of the innovation is happening in companies that aren't public yet. So if we are putting on our public market blinders, we don't see it right now."
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