Apple takes the lead of ARM-based PC market surprising no one

Two years ago, Apple announced the transition of the processors in its devices to its proprietary solution, the "M" family. That gave birth to the Apple M1, the company's first CPU on the ARM architecture. That was a bold decision, that worked very well and earned the company a 90% lead in notebook-type chipset profits in 2021, as the Strategy Analytics report points out.

The somewhat surprising news shows that Apple has managed to outperform other prominent devices in the niche, such as Chromebooks and Windows-on-Snapdragon PCs, in a short time. In this context, there is no secret formula: while the competition achieved an ordinary performance and demanded high prices, Apple delivered satisfactory levels of efficient performance, packaged in an appealing look, and established its brand on the market.

Apple achieved a big advantage and will remain the leader for a long time

The report also suggests that Apple will remain in the lead for quite some time. According to the data, the company may have achieved a two to three-year advantage over the competition. This "competition" is mainly represented in a niche by Qualcomm - which still disappoints when it comes to performance.

The forecast is based on Apple's sales statistics for PCs with ARM processors between the year 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 — estimated at 34.9 million units. The success boosted ARM's market capitalization in the overall computer niche to 9%. It's a virtually historic achievement for the British manufacturer. Considering Apple's plans for more ARM-based PC CPUs, ARM's presence and importance in the PC segment will only increase in the forthcoming years.

Apple recently unveiled the M2 during its WWDC conference. The company also presented two new MacBook models to premiere the new chipset. Later this year, we expect the first M2 variations to arrive. Meanwhile, Qualcomm struggles with its goal of becoming the "alternative" for non-Apple ARM computers.