It's actually not that different from Apple Silicon when you think about it.
Apple Silicon: you only get it when you buy an iPhone, iPad, ARM Mac, etc. in the Smartphone or PC market; and it enables features that make those devices competitive.
Russian Elbrus: you only get it when you buy some Russian military hardware in the defense market; and it enables features that make those devices competitive.
M1 does not compete with Intel or AMD. (M1)(Apple)(OSX) competes with (Intel | AMD)(Choose any OEM)(Windows | Linux). All sales of the M1 chip are "guaranteed sales," to Apple itself, building macs.
How so?
It's actually not that different from Apple Silicon when you think about it.
Apple Silicon: you only get it when you buy an iPhone, iPad, ARM Mac, etc. in the Smartphone or PC market; and it enables features that make those devices competitive.
Russian Elbrus: you only get it when you buy some Russian military hardware in the defense market; and it enables features that make those devices competitive.