Investors Grow Impatient With Apple’s AI Efforts

Wall Street is reportedly growing impatient with the pace of Apple’s artificial intelligence efforts.

Apple has not been transparent about its strategy, while its competitors have announced plans for new AI-centered data centers and devices, CNBC reported Wednesday (July 30).

The company’s stock is down 15% this year as of Tuesday’s close, making it one of only two members of the Magnificent Seven tech companies that have lost value, according to the report. The other company is Tesla.

The challenges facing Apple and its image on Wall Street include its delay of the next-generation of its virtual assistant, Siri, OpenAI’s announcement that it is developing hardware devices, and concerns that iPhone sales will suffer Apple’s competitors are faster in developing meaningful AI features for their smartphones and other devices, the report said.

Analysts had hoped that the release of Apple Intelligence last summer would lead consumers to purchase new iPhones, but that didn’t happen, per the report. One poll found that only 13% of consumers who bought a new iPhone did so for new features.

At the same time, Apple has its strengths, the report said. These include the strength of its iPhone sale, user satisfaction with its products, and the fact that its customers often own several Apple devices.

Analysts told CNBC that the company has more than a year to catch up with its competitors in the AI realm, because AI features have not yet become the driver of smartphone sales.

Apple’s investors have reason to be nervous about the company’s “AI crisis,” PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster wrote July 23.

“Apple Intelligence doesn’t appear in any serious public Gen AI rankings,” Webster wrote. “It lags behind even X.ai’s Grok. That’s not a public relations problem. It’s a strategic misstep. Maybe even a crater-sized hole that could prove Apple’s fatal flaw.”

It was reported July 14 that investors concerned by Apple’s slump in share prices and frustrated with its delays in introducing AI features are calling on the company to buck tradition and acquire or hire new AI talent.

In June it was reported that Apple was considering powering Siri with third-party AI models and that it was mulling an acquisition of AI startup Perplexity AI.