The iPhone 16 series was nearly indistinguishable from last year’s iPhone 15 family, with Apple addressing a few complaints to improve the experience in the latest models rather than focusing on a massive design change. As you would have guessed, the lack of meaningful upgrades meant that the new flagships would not garner as much popularity, but the company had an ace up its sleeve in the form of Apple Intelligence, and analysts believe that this addition is what will ultimately lead to a supercycle as the technology giant reaches a $4 trillion market capitalization.
Overall market capitalization will receive a reliable cushion from Apple’s Services division, which has continued to witness a revenue growth quarter after quarter
As reported by ITHome, Apple’s stock price has increased 16 percent since November, and its market value has also witnessed an increase of $500 billion. According to Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring, iPhone demand has remained ‘soft’ in the near term and that is because of limited Apple Intelligence capabilities and availability. Woodring estimates that eliminating both obstacles will result in increased iPhone demand. In China, Apple faces a problem bringing generative AI features to the masses because of regulatory hurdles, which is why it is said to be in early talks with Tencent And ByteDance to help remove this barrier.
China is a region of immense importance, as it is the biggest smartphone market by volume and a major contributor to Apple’s annual iPhone revenue. Apple has previously been reported to reach the $4 trillion market capitalization by the end of 2024, but there is one unsung category that has delivered a solid financial cushion to the company to offset the reduced revenue from other divisions, and that is Services. It is estimated that Services could bring in $100 billion in revenue in 2025, making up 25 percent of the total, with Wedbush analysts predicting that this business arm will reach a valuation of $1.5 trillion to $1.6 trillion by the end of 2024.
The rollout of Apple Intelligence features has been a slow process, and with the increased responsibility on the developers’ shoulders, the company could be forced to postpone iOS 19 features until 2026. At this stage, it is unconfirmed if generative AI could introduce an iPhone supercycle, but we will continue to monitor the company’s progress and provide routine updates.
News Source: ITHome
