Analysts weren't particularly excited about Tim Cook's final keynote as Apple CEO. This conference focused on the artificial intelligence upgrade of its voice assistant robot. "We don't think investors will be excited about what's coming out of this announcement," UBS's David Vogt wrote in a note to clients on Monday, saying the upgrades won't be enough to drive iPhone demand. In 2025, iPhone will account for about half of Apple's revenue.
Key Banc’s Brandon Nispel said he “didn’t see clear AI monetization signals,” but only “a slightly improved standalone version of Siri, but still inferior to other large language models.”
Baird's William Ball said the new Siri's AI capabilities are "roughly in line" with expectations, but if executed correctly, they could be "a huge breakthrough."
Apple is facing headwinds at the consumer level amid rising inflation, wage growth and falling personal savings.
Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Wu believes that weak consumer demand is a key risk facing Apple.
"Any weakness in the macro environment could reduce demand for Apple's products and services," he wrote to clients on Monday. “Longer replacement cycles due to macroeconomic headwinds, increased product durability, or lack of product innovation could all have a negative impact on upgrade demand.”