Apple Intelligence Isn’t Driving iPhone 16 Sales the Way Apple Hoped, Analyst Says

The baseline iPhone 16 is already the astir susceptible Apple non-Pro smartphone ever. It has each the aforesaid other buttons, similar Camera Capture and the Action Button, that the iPhone 16 Pro has. It tin seizure spatial pictures and video, and eventually, it’s getting each the newfangled Apple Intelligence features. Despite that, a noted proviso concatenation expert is reporting the institution is cutting iPhone accumulation conscionable 2 months aft motorboat arsenic radical aren’t truly excessively keen connected the committedness of an AI-ified iPhone.

Market analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from KGI Securities wrote connected his Medium blog Wednesday that Apple chopped orders for astir 10 cardinal baseline iPhones for the process extremity of this twelvemonth and into 2025. Previously, Kuo estimated shipments of astir 84 cardinal for the process extremity of this year, but that’s present down to an estimated 80 million. Apple is besides expected to marque less iPhone 16s successful the archetypal 2 quarters of 2025.

That’s inactive a batch of iPhones, but erstwhile Apple has been dealing with declining iPhone income for implicit a year, it’s not large quality for the Cupertino tech giant. Kuo mentioned that the diminution successful accumulation mightiness not amusement connected Apple’s Q4 fiscal statements owed to the spread successful accumulation versus sales. Still, determination whitethorn beryllium a diminution successful shipments and telephone gross twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth erstwhile we get into 2025.

Apple isn’t expected to alteration the fig of iPhone 16 Pro models, with their amended displays and camera setups positive the much almighty A18 Pro processor. iPhone income were besides down past year, contempt the committedness that the iPhone 15 Pro would beryllium the archetypal telephone to facilitate Apple Intelligence.

Kuo said helium did not presume Apple’s AI features would summation iPhone sales. Apple released its caller telephone alongside iOS 18. However, users person to wait until Oct. 28 to get the archetypal fewer AI features similar Writing Tools extracurricular of beta. They’ll person to wait longer for iOS 18.2 for immoderate AI representation generation. The fabled Siri overhaul, which volition supposedly fto the adjunct entree users’ information crossed their devices, won’t get until sometime adjacent year, according to wrong sources cited by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Even if Apple Intelligence has the accidental to boost sales, the marketplace expert remains skeptical, writing, “Apple’s caller bid cuts suggest this optimistic anticipation whitethorn not materialize successful the abbreviated term.” There’s a accidental iPhone buyers are waiting until the iPhone 17 to upgrade. By then, we’ll person already seen the result of Apple Intelligence and cognize whether it’s worthy using. That, oregon Apple fans aren’t seeing thing genuinely breathtaking oregon revolutionary astir the past fewer yearly smartphone releases.

Apple has reportedly scaled backmost accumulation of its different large bet, the $3,500 Vision Pro. According to anonymous sources connected the accumulation enactment cited by The Information, Apple capped accumulation astatine betwixt 500,000 and 600,000 headsets. That volition seemingly beryllium capable to conscionable demand. The iPhone shaper whitethorn commencement winding down Vision Pro accumulation successful November. This comes conscionable a fewer days aft a Wall Street Journal interrogation with CEO Tim Cook, who proclaimed how they program to beryllium “the best” successful AI features crossed iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Cook besides said he’d “always similar to merchantability much of everything,” including the company’s archetypal “spatial computer.” Still, helium admitted, “At $3,500, it’s not a mass-market product.”

There’s a accidental that iPhone income could beryllium boosted by the rumored iPhone SE 4, with Apple Intelligence enactment reportedly slated to motorboat aboriginal adjacent year. Now we person an AI-capable iPad mini positive the committedness of a caller iPad 11 that could enactment AI successful 2025, according to Gurman’s sources. Tim Cook’s institution is acceptable to merchandise adjacent much AI-capable products with a lineup of MacBook Pros, Mac minis, and iMacs with M4 chips, reportedly slated for motorboat by the extremity of October oregon aboriginal November.