Not 100% sure I understand your question but if you're asking about 4040 vs 6502 as contenders for Apple II in 1977 - the 4040 was a much more limited design than the 6502 and would not have been viable as the Apple's CPU.
The Apple 1 could run either the 6502 or 6800! Probably experience with that dictated that people wanted the 6502. Apple also gained enough pull with MOS that at some point they got some say in the feature set of the 6522 VIA.
In a ~ $1300 computer (Apple II, ca. 1977) how price sensitive was that CPU market to $9?
The 6800 was ~ $175 in 1974 - that does seem like a clear gulf to the other two. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_6800