Apple bets big on AI in reaction to sales decline in China

Apple Inc. recently announced an update in its plans to feature artificial intelligence (AI) in its products. It expects its AI bet to boost its recovery from the recent slump reported in China product sales. It is expected to release a software upgrade for iPhone in the coming month.

As per a Bloomberg report, Apple’s revenue dropped 6.5% to 14.7 billion in the second quarter in Greater China. It missed the projection of $15.3 billion set by Wall Street. This is the only region with a year-over-year (YOY) and quarter-over-quarter decline.

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, expressed long-term confidence in a recovery despite the recent sales decline in China. He reportedly suggested in a conference call that upcoming Apple Intelligence features will prove to be a new basis for users to buy phones.

Apple revenue declines

Apple’s share price dropped by 1.68% in the last trading session. It has endured a minor fall of 0.25% over the past 5 days to trade at $218.36. AAPL saw an uptick of 0.57% in the pre-market session on August 2, 2024. Apple has managed to keep up in the competitive market by surging over 17% in the last 6 months.

The introduction of Apple’s AI features is projected to grow its sales and revenue. However, these features may be delayed in China and the European Union (EU) due to a few regulatory hurdles. Cook mentioned that they have to understand the legal requirements before they can commit to a schedule to introduce their AI features.

iPhone sales in China fell by 5.7% on a YOY basis in the second quarter while Huawei gained market share. Apple’s services units like App Store revenue recorded a 14% surge to stand at $24.2 billion.

Apple set to join the AI trend

The tech giant’s move comes in when competing companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet have already spent billions on generative AI. It has since committed to catching up in the race that began after the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Nvidia, one of the world’s largest producers of GPUs, recently became the most valuable publicly listed company for some time. Its surge was purely driven due to a spike in demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) chips.

NVIDIA share price has seen a jump of a massive 65% in the last 6 months, while, it is up by 126% year-to-date. Its trading price closed at $109.21 on Aug 2, 7:26 GMT.