TECH NEWS – The Cupertino-based company may have missed the boat with the iPhone 16 series… maybe they should have waited with the hardware until the Apple Intelligence launch!
While a few things have changed in this year’s iPhone foursome, it hasn’t changed the interest in the product. Sales of the iPhone have not increased significantly, although interest in smartphones, and therefore shipments, have increased. So users are upgrading their phones, but not many are choosing the iPhone, and the emergence of Apple Intelligence could be a reason why.
According to data published by IDC, Apple saw a minimal improvement in iPhone sales while the smartphone market grew significantly in 2024. International shipments accounted for 1.24 billion units (+6.2%), but Apple only improved iPhone results by +0.4%. The iPhone 16 results may not have been helped by the fact that iOS 18.2, which brings ChatGPT support to Siri, has yet to be released, but Genmoji and Image Playground are also worth mentioning. So Apple Intelligence alone was not a strong enough reason to upgrade.
There is also a lot of competition for smartphones in China, and Apple’s position there is also being legally challenged. Rivals (e.g. Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi) are all competing aggressively on price and trying to be technologically innovative. Huawei and Xiaomi are spending heavily on hardware and software beyond individual chips. Xiaomi is working on its own 3-nanometer chip to give Qualcomm, Apple, Huawei, and MediaTek a new competitor. Huawei recently released the Mate 70 with its own processor, and with HarmonyOS they have reduced their dependence on Google (although the results are not very impressive: the video is about that).
Manufacturers using Android have gained 7.6% of the market, with Africa, the Middle East and Asia making the biggest gains. So you can get products at more affordable prices. Despite the lack of big growth, Apple is at the top of the industry in terms of profits because of its premium pricing. According to IDC, iOS device shipments will grow 3.1% next year, while Android devices will only grow 1.7% by 2025. The overall smartphone market has seen a rebound in regions with low smartphone penetration due to the entry of low- and mid-range devices. The research firm also points out that generative AI features have had no impact on overall smartphone shipments.
So, Apple may have its act together next year.
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