She cited market over-saturation, but also the contents of the average gourmet cupcake.

FORBES: RIP Cupcakes, Long Live Juice Cleanses? Inside The Fickle Food Trend Bubble

However, aggressive domestic expansion could lead to over-saturation of target consumer markets.

FORBES: Costco Has A Long Way To Drop Before It's Fairly Valued

It is now entirely possible that there is an over-saturation of brands in that space which says a great deal for a culture that has become enormously brand-conscious over the past 20 years.

FORBES: Nike--Not Apple--Is A Bellwether of China's Economy

Expect the usual saturation coverage on Channel 4 fronted by an over-excited Davina McCall, and the usual super-saturated coverage in the tabloids.

BBC: Reality bandwagon rolls on

Analysts agree that Starbucks' main problem is overexpansion as it was at McDonald's in 2001, when the chain crossed the 30, 000-store mark and struggled with a dearth of innovation, market saturation and poor control over restaurants.

ECONOMIST: Starbucks v McDonald's