Blue Whale News, June 12th (Reporter Zhang Han) - Although the potential of "Apple+AI" did not directly rise on the day of WWDC 24, it soon stimulated the capital market.
The day after WWDC was held, as of the close of June 11th Eastern Time, Apple's stock price reached a historic high of $207.15, a surge of 7.26%, marking Apple's largest daily increase since November 2022; This increase has added $214.2 billion to Apple's market value, with a total market value of $3.18 trillion, approaching Microsoft's top market value ($3.22 trillion) and once again leading "AI seller" NVIDIA ($2.97 trillion).
The rare surge in stock prices reflects to some extent the recognition of Apple Intelligence by Wall Street investors. Apple does not want its own big model to support all encompassing demands, but rather to better understand user needs and provide assistance in scenarios based on user data and context. During the entire press conference, Apple did not mention how many parameters were used for "Apple Intelligence", but focused on the product features themselves. According to media reports, John Giandria, Senior Vice President of Apple's Artificial Intelligence Strategy, revealed that as part of Apple Intelligence, the company is committed to creating a model with a parameter size of 3 billion.
In the entire AI arms race, Apple did fall behind a bit, but in its own path, Apple has the right to draw its own lines. Apple CEO Cook admitted, "In the past few years, Apple has been using artificial intelligence and machine learning to try to launch more powerful products to meet users' richer demands. Although the development of generative artificial intelligence and big language models has brought many opportunities, reflecting Apple's core product principles means that artificial intelligence is far more than that simple."
In addition, Apple continues to strive for the utmost in protecting privacy. When dealing with AI work, Apple prioritizes using the built-in large model on the device and relies on chip performance to complete it locally. Even if ChatGPT is integrated into Siri, the user still needs to make their own decision on whether to activate this feature. Apple promised that these data would not be leaked, but this was met with criticism from Tesla CEO Musk, who also posted a highly satirical image on X.
Previously, due to poor iPhone sales and lagging behind in artificial intelligence, Apple's stock price was overshadowed. But after WWDC, according to Reuters, at least 13 analysts have raised their pricing targets for Apple's stock price, with some encouraging buyers of the new iPhone that Apple is preparing to release in the fall. Due to the need for computing hardware, only Apple devices with A17 Pro and M-series chips can support Apple Intelligence. Currently, only iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max are supported on the iPhone. Gartner analyst Tuong Nguyen said, "Apple is proving that it is investing in developing its platforms and devices to achieve the next era of computing, interface, and experience."
Although Apple has always taken a cautious attitude towards its software and hardware, and takes pride in releasing perfect products, Cook also acknowledges that "Apple Intelligence" may have some illusions, but it can still maintain very high quality. According to an interview with Cook by The Washington Post, "I admit it won't be 100% accurate, but we have done everything possible to improve it, including delving into the readiness of the artificial intelligence technology we use in specific fields, so I believe its quality will be very high. But to be honest, it won't achieve 100% accuracy, and I will never claim that it can do that."
At present, "Apple Intelligence" will launch a trial version in the United States this summer, but Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President of Apple Software Engineering, said in an interview with Fast Company that Apple is working hard to find a time for "Apple Intelligence" to enter the Chinese market. There is currently no specific timetable, but this is definitely what Apple wants to do.
With Apple's entry, the competition among mobile phone manufacturers in the field of artificial intelligence will become more intense. According to Bloomberg, Samsung is merging two North American research centers focused on artificial intelligence technology to create a new business, combining its teams in Toronto and Mountain View, California. At the same time, Samsung also hired former Apple executive Murat Akbacak to lead the department. During his time at Apple, Murat Akbacak was responsible for defining and executing the strategy of Apple's personal digital assistant Siri, focusing on personalization, contextualization, and the advancement of dialogue and multimodal AI.
According to market research firm IDC, in 2023, Apple surpassed Samsung for the first time since 2010, winning the top spot in global smartphone sales. Apple's market share in 2023 was 20.1%, while Samsung's market share was 19.4%. After adding AI variables, not only Apple and Samsung, but also the entire mobile phone market will usher in a new round of competition.