Apple Records Robust Mac and Services Growth in Fiscal Q1

Apple’s competitive advantage stems from its ability to package hardware, software, services, and third-party applications into sleek, intuitive, and appealing devices. This expertise enables the firm to capture a premium on its hardware, unlike most of its peers. Despite its admirable reputation, loyal customer base, and unique products, the consumer hardware space can be unforgiving to firms unable to consistently satiate the customer’s appetite for more features. Given the short product cycles of Apple’s products and army of firms targeting its dominance, we do not believe Apple has a wide economic moat.