I never would have guessed that they could outrun Apple. Is it gaming that made the difference?
IMHO, Apple had dropped the ball several times in the last five years and that is costing them business and dollars. A few examples:
1. The Apple ecosystem (one of the main reasons to pay the
Apple Tax) has been allowed to deteriorate. The recent abandoning of the Apple Airport router is a good example. And through good software/app choices one can duplicate many of the advantages of owning all Apple equipment.
2. Apple is behind in 'home' devices such as Alexa. Alexa is not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, but Siri is worse, IMHO. Not sure about Cortana since I have never used it. Apple TV is OK, but not worth the premium over Roku, IMHO
3. The Mac (that's the one that brought them to the dance) has been allowed to languish. Mac Pro users are looking at over 5 years since the last meaningful upgrade. iMacs get refreshed, but no serious redesign in years. The lower-cost MacBook Air models are going away. Mac is being treated like the unwanted step-child.
4. Price. $1000+ for a phone/pocket-computer?!?!?!? Sorry, but there are some great Android phones on the market for less than 1/2 the price. I understand that Apple does not want to compete on the ultra cheap phone market, but at these prices, there are to many downsides to owning a phone that expensive.
5. iPad replacing real computers. iPads are not there yet, but Apple likes to pretend they are. Sorry but real computers are still the tool of choice for many jobs. (See #3 above).
Apple's main selling point is better security. How long that will last is anybody's guess.
My apologies for hi-jacking a thread on MS with my complaints about Apple.