Apple never bought Qualcomm’s CPUs, and I don’t think they ever competed with NVidia. I think it’s just smartphone vendors are seeing a decline in sales; leading to a decline for Qualcomm.
It seems they are not progressing. They have the same features as before, perhaps dramatically improved, nothing worth upgrading. Compared to the early days things are quite unimaginative. With the size of these companies it cant be easy to reinvent themselves.
The only thing which has "dramatically improved" is the reshufling of GUI elements and the passive agressive warnings covering half of the screen which you cannot dismiss.
Rampant inflation, mass layoffs, record homelessness, ever increasing credit card debt among the middle class. Most Americans are unprepared for a $400 emergency expense. This is fine, the economy is doing great. Ignore what you’re seeing and believe what the party tells you.
Nowadays everything is stale. There are no killer apps to drive upgrade. A 2020 flagship is still in top condition to handle any apps except 3d games.