Apple Inc is facing an unprecedented challenge: Persuading customers to buy its latest iPhones without their biggest new feature.
Apple yesterday launched the iPhone 16 lineup in almost 60 countries, including Taiwan, the US, China, India, Australia and South Korea. However, the device does not come installed with Apple Intelligence — the much-anticipated artificial intelligence (AI) software that the company has been touting since June. That means users would have to download the software features over time as they become available during the coming weeks and months.
That has put Apple in a tricky spot. It is already marketing the AI features heavily, but some consumers might hold off on buying the new phones if they cannot enjoy the benefits right away. The new iPhone hardware, meanwhile, has only modest upgrades from prior models. A touch-sensitive camera control button that makes it easier to take pictures and video is the most notable change.
Photo:Bloomberg
Even so, Wall Street remains bullish that Apple can accelerate its growth during the all-important holiday season. Analysts estimate that revenue would increase 8 percent in the fourth quarter — the best showing for that period since the end of 2021.
The new lineup includes two standard models — the 16 and 16 Plus — as well as the higher-end Pro and Pro Max. Preorders of the devices began last week, with shipments to stores and customers getting underway yesterday.
It is rare to see huge crowds of iPhone shoppers at Apple stores these days, but some diehard fans lined up at locations around the world ahead of the launch. The big question is whether ordinary consumers snap up the new model as well.
The initial units going on sale would run the iOS 18 operating system, but Apple Intelligence would require an over-the-air update to the iOS 18.1 software, which is launching next month.
Apple Intelligence was announced in June at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference and has been available in a limited beta test for developers for the past several weeks.
Apple on Thursday released a public beta version of Apple Intelligence — one aimed at a wider audience — though most customers would not access it until the suite of features is released in its final form next month. Additional capabilities would not be ready until later, part of a staggered launch that would stretch into next year.
When the technology titan introduced the iPhone 16 line, it said that the devices were the first to be built “from the ground up” for Apple Intelligence. However, some iPhones from last year — the 15 Pro and Pro Max — would be able to support the features.
The look of the new phones is little changed from the iPhone 12 design from 2020. However, they feature noticeable battery-life improvements and camera advancements beyond the new button. Prices start at US$799 for the standard iPhone, ranging up to US$1,199 for the Pro Max.
SEMICONDUCTOR SERVICES: A company executive said that Taiwanese firms must think about how to participate in global supply chains and lift their competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it expects to launch its first multifunctional service center in Pingtung County in the middle of 2027, in a bid to foster a resilient high-tech facility construction ecosystem. TSMC broached the idea of creating a center two or three years ago when it started building new manufacturing capacity in the US and Japan, the company said. The center, dubbed an “ecosystem park,” would assist local manufacturing facility construction partners to upgrade their capabilities and secure more deals from other global chipmakers such as Intel Corp, Micron Technology Inc and Infineon Technologies AG, TSMC said. It
People walk past advertising for a Syensqo chip at the Semicon Taiwan exhibition in Taipei yesterday.
NO BREAKTHROUGH? More substantial ‘deliverables,’ such as tariff reductions, would likely be saved for a meeting between Trump and Xi later this year, a trade expert said China launched two probes targeting the US semiconductor sector on Saturday ahead of talks between the two nations in Spain this week on trade, national security and the ownership of social media platform TikTok. China’s Ministry of Commerce announced an anti-dumping investigation into certain analog integrated circuits (ICs) imported from the US. The investigation is to target some commodity interface ICs and gate driver ICs, which are commonly made by US companies such as Texas Instruments Inc and ON Semiconductor Corp. The ministry also announced an anti-discrimination probe into US measures against China’s chip sector. US measures such as export curbs and tariffs
The US on Friday penalized two Chinese firms that acquired US chipmaking equipment for China’s top chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯國際), including them among 32 entities that were added to the US Department of Commerce’s restricted trade list, a US government posting showed. Twenty-three of the 32 are in China. GMC Semiconductor Technology (Wuxi) Co (吉姆西半導體科技) and Jicun Semiconductor Technology (Shanghai) Co (吉存半導體科技) were placed on the list, formally known as the Entity List, for acquiring equipment for SMIC Northern Integrated Circuit Manufacturing (Beijing) Corp (中芯北方積體電路) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Beijing) Corp (中芯北京), the US Federal Register posting said. The
RSS