On the early morning of June 11th Beijing time, the Apple World Developers Conference (WWDC) opened in Apple Park. Apple has updated operating systems such as iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, and visionOS as usual.
After the release of the new operating system, Apple has launched the most heavyweight series of AI features in nearly a decade. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that Apple Intelligence integrates AI language models into various Apple devices such as iPhones, iPads, and Macs, and AI commands can run across applications such as emails, maps, calendars, and locally stored personal information.
However, the strong debut of Apple's AI features did not elicit a warm response from the market. After the launch event, Apple's stock price continued to decline. As of the close of the US stock market on the same day, Apple closed at $193.12 per share, a decrease of 1.91%.
A series of AI features have been launched as scheduled
In fact, in this wave of AI, Apple has always been jokingly referred to as the "AI laggard" in the market. While global smart hardware terminal manufacturers are launching AI phones, AI PCs, and other products, Apple has been unable to release operating systems and terminal products embedded in AI for a long time.
And the release of a series of AI features has finally enabled Apple to hand over its AI answer sheet. Specifically, the AI features launched by Apple this time include almost all native Apple applications, including the ability to directly generate text, images, emoticons, voice, and Siri for contextual dialogue by calling AI.
In terms of photos, with AI technology support, users can directly eliminate pedestrians in photos, achieving more ideal photo effects. In addition, through the AIGC capability, users can use various styles of AI to generate emoticons during chatting.
In terms of virtual assistants, Siri supports users with incoherent and unsmooth voice commands, and can respond based on context. Users can also directly type to Siri for various phone settings or Q&A.
Zhang Yi, CEO and Chief Analyst of iMedia Consulting, told Securities Daily that the difference between Apple's release of AI features and domestic AI phones is not significant. Currently, there is no "Killer App" (killer application) on the mobile end, which has led to the entire industry being in the exploratory stage of AI development.
"Apple's proactive approach also has another consideration, which is the concern that AI features will replace some popular applications, thereby impacting Apple's app store business model," Ma Jihua, founder of Darui Consulting, told Securities Daily.
Is the AI feature released this time a bit rushed?
At the developer conference, Apple also announced a partnership with OpenAI to integrate their ChatGPT. Users can directly call ChatGPT in the system, and Apple will connect the voice assistant Siri to ChatGPT. On Mac, users can also generate desired content directly through ChatGPT within various applications.
"Apple used to focus on closed ecology and self research technology, but this time it broke the convention and chose to cooperate with OpenAI as a last resort." Ma Jihua said that because of Apple's lack of innovation, and its obvious inability to keep pace with mainstream trends in research and development fields such as the Internet of Things and big data, especially the insufficient accumulation in the field of artificial intelligence, if it missed this wave of AI wave, it would pose a huge pressure on its future development.
It is worth mentioning that due to ChatGPT not being registered in China or other places, Apple's AI feature support may be limited at present. Ma Jihua said that under the current policy of the United States, ChatGPT's interfaces, applications and databases may not be available in Chinese Mainland and may be used in many other countries in the future, which will affect Apple's global sales ability.
In the eyes of industry insiders, Apple's release of AI features this time is somewhat hasty, with relatively small differences in functionality compared to domestic manufacturers. Moreover, the fact that it is currently only open to the US market also proves that its preparation in other countries around the world is not sufficient. This may be difficult to reverse the downward trend of Apple's phones in the global market.
According to Apple's latest quarterly financial report, in the second quarter of fiscal year 2024 (as of March 30, 2024), Apple's revenue in Greater China, the Americas, Japan, and other Asia Pacific regions all decreased year-on-year. Among them, the revenue of Greater China, as its third largest market, was 16.372 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 8%.