When mobile phone manufacturers rushed to add more AI, 2024 was called "the first year of mobile AI". However, Apple, which has always been regarded as the pioneer of smart phones, has been slow to act. Recently, Apple announced that it would abandon the car-making project, and it is turning to the field of generative AI in an all-round way, and news related to AI mobile phones is constantly coming out. For Apple, in the face of declining sales and market, price reduction is the competition for the stock market, while AI is the preemption of the incremental market.
Introducing external large model
According to foreign media reports quoted people familiar with the matter on Monday, Apple and Google are actively negotiating, hoping that Google’s generative artificial intelligence model Gemini will support some new functions of iPhone software this year. In addition, the source also revealed that Apple recently discussed with OpenAI and considered using the GPT model.
It is reported that Apple is preparing new functions based on its self-developed artificial intelligence model for the upcoming iOS 18, but these are all concentrated on devices, not through the cloud. Therefore, Apple is also looking for some partners to support generative artificial intelligence functions, including the ability to create images and write articles based on simple tips.
After giving up the car-making project, Apple is currently facing tremendous pressure in the field of artificial intelligence. Compared with competitors Microsoft and Google, Apple has been slow to introduce generative artificial intelligence, and Google and Microsoft are already integrating artificial intelligence into their products. Last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company planned to disclose more about its plans to put generative artificial intelligence into use later this year, adding that the company was making "significant" investments in this field.
The cooperation negotiations that broke out this time may mean that Apple’s efforts in artificial intelligence are not as far as some people hope. Therefore, people familiar with the matter said that Apple’s move to find partners may be wise. If the negotiations are successful, Apple will gain new functions in generative artificial intelligence, and Gemini will gain a key advantage in having billions of potential users.
At the same time, it also means that the two companies will "kiss each other." According to the agreement reached between Google and Apple, Google pays Apple billions of dollars every year, making its search engine the default option for Safari web browsers on iPhone and other devices. It is worth mentioning that in view of the huge scale of both parties, the potential agreement may lead to further antitrust review of the two companies.
Apple’s process related to AI mobile phones has always attracted much attention. In 2023, many media reported that Apple was developing a big model Ajax. In January 2024, some developers found Siri’s code related to OpenAI and ChatGPT in the developer preview version of Apple’s operating system iOS 17.4. The code shows that Apple is developing a new version of Siri supported by a big model. This has triggered speculation in the industry about iOS 18 that has not yet been launched. Many people think that iOS 18 will deeply integrate generative AI technology and redo iOS built-in applications with AI, especially Siri.
Save sales
For Apple, AI mobile phone is a brand-new and huge market. Since entering the China market in 1993, Apple has always been regarded as the representative of high-end mobile phones. In the era of smart phones, Nokia, the "tears of the times", was eliminated; There are many domestic flip phones whose names can’t be remembered. It seems that only Apple will never fail. However, 30 years later, this situation has undergone a subtle change.
Recently, the report released by Furui Group said that in 2023, the sales volume of Apple mobile phones in China dropped slightly by 3%, and the sales volume in the first week of 2024 plummeted by 30% compared with the same period in 2023. The report also predicts that the sales of Apple’s mobile phones in China may show a double-digit decline in 2024 in the face of multiple attacks from China brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi. Subsequently, Apple reported that China’s revenue dropped by 13%.
In order to cope with the weak demand in the smart phone market, Apple China official website recently launched a rare promotion campaign to reduce the price of its iPhone 15 series products by 500 yuan, including the most expensive iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Major General Ding, an industry observer, told the beijing business today that the price reduction of Apple official website showed that the sales of iPhone 15 series were less than expected before, and there was pressure to clear inventory at the end of the year. Under the multiple pressures of the high-end local brands in China, represented by Huawei, and the launch and sale of Samsung’s flagship new machine Galaxy S24 series, Apple needs to release the old inventory as soon as possible and lay the foundation for the new machine sales in 2024.
In Major General Ding’s view, Apple’s strategic adjustment is relatively slow. In terms of imaging technology, it has been overtaken by the head brand of the Android camp, but it is slow in folding screens and AI models, resulting in the gradual loss of users.
Canalys analyzed that in the past two years, thanks to the steady demand of the high-end smart market, Apple iPhone has shown tenacious vitality. However, the re-emergence of Huawei in Chinese mainland and local competition will pose a challenge to Apple’s sustained growth when the demand for high-end mobile phones in other major markets such as North America and Europe tends to be stable. "In the new year, Apple must seek new market growth points and ecosystem advantages to revitalize the iPhone business." Canalys wrote in the report.
Samsung Galaxy S24 series mobile phones are regarded as a strong proof that AI affects sales. According to official data, the sales volume of Galaxy S24 series has exceeded 1 million units in 28 days after it was launched in South Korea, which has set a new record for the sales volume of Samsung S series mobile phones to exceed one million units, which is three weeks faster than that of the previous Galaxy S23 series.
Coincidentally, although Samsung released its own Gauss model in November 2023, the Galaxy S24 series uses Google’s Gemini, and the China version uses Baidu’s ERNIE Bot. At present, the main AI functions of Galaxy S24 series include two-way real-time translation during call and creative image editing.
How far is AI iPhone?
After the explosion of ChatGPT last year, Huang Renxun, CEO of NVIDIA, put forward that "the iPhone time of AI is coming", indicating that the AI industry has reached a point like the revolutionary subversion brought to the mobile phone industry when the iPhone was born.
Today, AI’s real iPhone may be coming. However, many people think that we still have a long way to go with the veritable AI mobile phone. According to some insiders, no matter whether the big model is self-developed or open, the products that have been labeled with AI mobile phones are nothing more than image processing, search and other functions, which are far from the real intelligent form.
Gartner, a research organization, pointed out that AI mobile phones should be equipped with corresponding hardware and software functions, which can realize seamless integration and efficient execution of AI driving functions and applications on mobile phones; These phones can run basic or fine-tuned AI models locally and generate new derivative versions of content, strategies, designs and methods. In other words, only when AIGC actually runs on the terminal can AI be considered as landing on the mobile phone.
Zhang Xiaorong, dean of the Institute of Deep Science and Technology, believes that in terms of value potential, AI is expected to refresh the business model of the mobile phone industry and even reconstruct the previous pattern. But at the present stage, the strategic awareness of mobile phone manufacturers is far ahead of technology and ecology. Building momentum around the concept may boost sales in the short term, but the vision is not equal to reality after all.
Zhang Xiaorong mentioned that it should also be noted that while AI mobile phones enhance the sense of experience, they will also cause users’ anxiety about data and personal privacy. At present, users who have doubts about App snooping data can also use different Apps to distinguish them, and avoid privacy leakage by not letting an app get too much data. Assuming that the AI ? ? mobile phone can get through all the apps, users naturally cannot avoid it.
At this level, the AI ? ? phone has not yet ushered in its iPhone moment, but obviously, it is worth waiting for.
Source: beijing business today reporter Zhao Tianshu
Process Editor: U022
In case of problems such as the content and copyright of the works, please contact this website within 30 days from the date of publication of the relevant articles. Contact number of copyright infringement: 010-85202353
