Apple is currently the largest company in the world. With a market capitalization of over 3,3 trillion dollars, it has long been one of the most popular companies not only within its technological products, but also among stock investors. September is traditionally a awaited month for fans of this company, because Apple This time of year traditionally presents its products, on which the success of this technology giant largely depends. This year was no different, and the company presented its new flagship this Monday iPhone 16 and many other devices. But will these innovations be enough to Apple has he maintained his lead over competition that is already nipping at his heels?
What exactly Apple showed?
Regular version Apple Watch will be now thinner, with a better display and more emphasis on health functions, which Apple pushing more and more to the fore every year. On the other hand Apple Watch Ultra did not receive a significant upgrade and Apple didn't even spend much time on them. The headphones also received an update AirPods, which, along with watches, are the two most important products in the wearable electronics and accessories segment. New AirPods come in two versions, one with active noise suppression and the other without it, and improvements were also made second generation AirPods Pro. Apple also showed several health features to help users with hearing or hearing protection. However, he was of course the main star of the evening iPhone. As expected Apple first introduced the basic 16 series with a number of minor improvements and a special button for controlling the camera. As part of the presentation, the company also showed a number of functions based on artificial intelligence, which are intended to help users with their daily smartphone use. However, many of these features will be available later and only in certain languages. The Pro models received larger displays and improved photos and videos. In general, we can say that the event more or less copied the style of previous years. Apple introduced many interesting novelties, however, it can be said that in most cases it was mainly an improvement of already existing devices and functions.
How has the company been doing in recent years?
The way of society Apple in recent years, however more complicatedthan one might think. The company is currently the largest in the world again, but it was recently overtaken by Microsoft or even Nvidia. In fact, Apple suffers from a number of problems, which resulted in a long-term stagnation/decline in sales that began in early 2022 and which resulted in a short-term decline in capitalization of more than $500 billion. Let's look at the main problems facing society Apple and its investors struggled.
She was the first big problem China. China's economy has many internal problems, and so do its consumers. China is the company's third largest market after the US and Europe Apple and creates approximately 20% of its income. However, recent years have been pro Apple weaker in China precisely because of weaker consumers and also because competition from domestic manufacturers is growing in the Chinese market, such as Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo. A form of national pride and patriotism is also gradually growing in China, and consumers are increasingly favoring domestic brands over foreign brands, not only in electronics, but also in things like coffee, cars and clothes. Company management Apple however, on a recent call with investors it claimed that numbers from China are improving every quarter.
The second problem Applu was alone smartphone market. Last year was the weakest in terms of smartphone sales in the world in the last 10 years. Around 1,34 billion smartphones were sold worldwide, while in 2018 it was around 200 million units more and company sales Apple in terms of units sold, they have basically stagnated for 10 years. Apple however, it sells more expensive smartphones and manages to steer people towards the more expensive Pro models, so the company so far it maintains a nice margin, yet the weaker market and stagnation in the number of units sold is simply a problem. In addition, there have been several minor negative reports in the past year. Apple for example, announced finishing work on your autonomous car. Society is too under pressure from regulatory authorities in the US and Europe, which could significantly threaten its business model, especially in the area of services. The company even had to make its operating system available to other entities in Europe due to the new DMA regulation. They add to that complaints from a number of other companies, such as Spotify, Epic Games, and patent disputes with other companies, for example Masim. Late last year this one the dispute even led to the suspension of sales of some models Apple Watch in the USA due to the sensors used in the watch. Apple also already for a long time he did not come up with any commercially successful ground-breaking news.
How to Apple builds towards artificial intelligence?
Last but not least society's biggest problem Apple In recent years, there has been a buzz around artificial intelligence. Microsoft jumped on this wave very well, Google joined in, but Apple it underperformed compared to its competitors. This has raised concerns that the company is lagging behind in this area, which may threaten its strong position in the high-end, high-margin smartphone segment in the future. Apple apparently he registered concerns and so on showed off a number of AI features over the summer, which were supposed to reassure investors, which turned out to beonec succeeded and the shares returned to growth. However, objectively it must be said that AI features that Apple showed, they are not groundbreaking and we have already seen most of them in the competitionfor example in the form of Samsung or Google Pixels, or in similar third-party applications. But if it is Apple If there is one thing that is strong in it, it is fine-tuning, integration and the ability to massively scale some technologies, and this is where the potential will be.onec enough to use the functions in new iPhoneIf AI functionality is in the new iPhonech really seamless, most users and investors will probably be willing to overlook the fact that the range of features themselves is not groundbreaking.
IPhone 16 can thus be pro Apple from this point of view, in the long run, truly a turning point and only time will tell whether artificial intelligence willonec will become an important part of smartphones and whether Apple he mastered its integration.
As regards stock performance on the day of the new iPhone launch, in recent years, on average, they have not tended to react very positively, in the last 17 years they have finished in the plus on the given day only 5 times and in the minus 12 times. This time the shares after the event they responded with a decline of about 1,5%, but ended the day at about zero, so the reaction was not as negative as it usually is.
Source: Yahoo finance, XTB
However, if we look at wider context until the end of the year, or 90 business days after the launch of the iPhone on the market, shares tend to rise by 5,01% on average. So the short-term response is not ideal, but the medium-term response is good.
Source: Yahoo finance, XTB
What's next?
The coming months and years will be for Apple key. While the company is looking for new sources of revenue, such as high-margin services, which already account for about a third of total profit, but iPhone is still the basis of the whole society. Apple though is trying to expand its product line, gradually penetrates the area fintech or healthcare (Apple Watch are a very popular device in the US that doctors recommend to patients). According to the latest information Apple works i on home robots, but the company's entire success still rests on the iPhone. Apple but he is lucky to have really loyal customers. In the past, he has practically never been the first to come up with anything, but he has been the first to take a given thing and integrate it well, which is why he hasonec mined.
So, on the one hand from AI from the side Applu is expecting a lot now and many are talking about a sales supercycle, which should force a large part of users years later to replace their still well-functioning older iPhones with new ones with AI functions. However, there is also skepticism - many of the new features won't be available initially, or won't be available in the EU, and most smartphone AI users don't really need, or at least she doesn't know how to use it. In other words, it's primarily a toy for tech geeks at this point. Larger we can probably expect the impact only next year, when the AI is tested by the first enthusiasts, it is tuned and Apple will know how people use it. In addition, according to ongoing information, iPhones will also be redesigned next year after a long time. On the one hand, it will be very important for investors to watch how the first iPhonewhich Apple will directly link to artificial intelligence, and how far it is Apple in this area. Events around artificial intelligence will certainly have a significant impact on stock prices as well. On the other hand, in the short term, it will probably not be such a significant factor in practice that it would have an immediate effect on the sales success or failure of the new iPhones.
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At the coincidence of the stimulus with the judgment, they coughed from on high. The information of the article is essential - only the numbers confirm how Apple has been operating for the past few years: still a technology company at the level that manages to sell expensive things, but no longer a visionary. More like a stagnant rigid company that may or may not cry over earnings.