It’s all relative, but if you want to scope out the likely shape of the tech device industry in five years’ time, you have to think of the likely shape of the replacement cycle, and right now it seems to be shifting toward Apple.
That’s going to become more important to tech purchasing as the years roll by and is also likely why you’ll see other manufacturers become even more competitive as they try to stop the tide. It is open to question if they will be able to do so, given that even five years ago Apple still seemed far less dominant, which is no longer the case.
Shrink when you’re winning
If you look at the devices that are being sold, you’ll see one key thing: In the face of memory and component cost-driven price hikes, sales of PCs and smartphones are falling fast. Apple isn’t immune to this macroeconomic trend, so it is also seeing decline, but the relative rate of this decline is less steep, meaning the company is growing its market share even as the industry shrinks.