Apple likely to keep taking computer market share due to M1 chips, MS says
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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is likely to keep taking market share in computers, thanks to the M1 system-on-a-chip, which Morgan Stanley believes is a "key differentiator."
Analyst Katy Huberty, who has an overweight rating and a $200 price target, opined on data from market research firm IDC, released earlier this week, which noted that Apple shipped an estimated 7.6 million units during the fourth-quarter, holding 8.2% of the computer market, up 8.6% year-over-year. The data was similar to what Canalys, another research firm, also released this week, showing that Apple (AAPL) gained market share this quarter, as Macs grew twice the rate of PCs in the fourth-quarter.

"While we continue to believe that PCs becoming a strategic imperative in a post-COVID world has resulted in a structural uplift of annual PC shipments relative to pre-COVID levels (330M+ vs. 260M), we also remain cautious on the PC market outlook in 2022," Huberty wrote in a note to clients.
While Huberty believes that companies such as Dell (NYSE:DELL), HP (NYSE:HPQ) and other companies have benefited due in part to "a degree of near-term PC order pull-forward," with expectations of a slowdown in 2022, Apple has been taking market share for the past couple of years, which she attributes to the M1 chipset.
"Lastly, we'd note that since Apple first launched the M1 SoC, the Mac has averaged 8.1% PC market share vs. 7.1% in the two years prior, consistent with our view that the M1 [and M1 Pro/M1 Max] has become a key differentiator for Apple," Huberty added.
"We expect that as Intel-powered Mac's are phased out in favor of a M1-driven Mac portfolio, Apple will continue to see incremental share gains."
The M1 chip was introduced in November 2020 on the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac mini. Since then, it has been added to a number of other Apple (AAPL) computers.
Separately on Friday, Loop Capital raised its price target on Apple (AAPL) to $210, tying a Wall Street high on near-term iPhone strength.