Much of Apple's success in the area seems to stem from the fact that they're simply buying other parties out of the latest manufacturing processes, e.g. https:/

Much of Apple's success in the area seems to stem from the fact that they're simply buying other parties out of the latest manufacturing processes, e.g. https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/05/15/apple-has-a-stranglehold-on-the-tsmc-3nm-chip-supply-in-2023 https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/05/15/apple-has-a-stran... So if others want to compete, they'll always be a few years behind, since the fab capacity is reserved to Apple. So any competitor either has to magically improve the architecture dramatically - which they can't, since that would require an architectural license which Apple has, but most others don't - or find a fab that can compete with TSMC's latest tech both in terms of price and available volume.