Apple just reported earnings for the all-important holiday quarter.Overall it was Apple’s best quarter ever, but iPhone sales didn’t quite hit expectations, mainly because of China.CEO Tim Cook’s key takeaway though: iPhone 16 sales were strongest in countries where Apple Intelligence was available.
iPhone 16 sold better in countries with AI support, per Cook There’s been a lot of discourse around whether consumers truly care about Apple Intelligence or not.The company’s AI and iPhone 16 rollouts were initially praised, but would they drive upgrades? Per CEO Tim Cook to CNBC, it seems that the answer is yes.Currently, Apple Intelligence isn’t available at all in China.
It’s also unavailable on iPhones or iPads in the EU—that, at least, will change in April with iOS 18.4.China, however, has no announced release date for AI.And its iPhone 16 sales took a hit as a result.
This last reason at least indicates that there may be an iPhone boost in the upcoming quarter.But if Cook’s narrative around AI driving iPhone sales is correct, it may be short-lived growth without an announcement of Apple Intelligence coming to China.What do you think of Cook’s correlation of iPhone 16 sales and Apple Intelligence? Let us know in the comments.
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