Apple Faces Backlash as AI Delays Shake Investor Confidence | Image Source: www.inc.com
March 13, 2025 – Apple’s ambitious effort for artificial intelligence (AI) with its Apple Intelligence initiative has reached a major roadblock, leading to widespread skepticism among analysts, users and industry experts. According to the analyst Apple Ming-Chi Kuo, AI’s features so early on iOS 18 failed to stimulate iPhone updates, in contradiction with previous market expectations. The delay in the release of the key improvements Siri only added fuel to the fire, I better understand Apple’s position in the AI race.
Why are Apple AI environments short?
Apple Intelligence was announced with a big band in June 2024, promising to revolutionize how users interact with their iPhones. However, according to Kuo, the company struggled to fulfill these promises, with many Siri features animated by AI now pushed to an unspecified date in 2025. This delay has led to a significant loss of consumer confidence, especially as rivals like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft continue to advance their IA offerings.
Apple’s hesitation is particularly remarkable as AI is a key factor influencing smartphone purchases in markets like China. According to Canalys, AI’s capabilities become an important point of sale, and companies like Honor and Xiaomi fill the gap left by Apple’s delays.
How Apple AI fights against affected iPhone sales?
The impact of Apple’s AI errors is already visible on its financial performance. According to a Yahoo Finance report, Apple’s iPhone sales have declined year after year, with AI delays cited as one of the main reasons. Analysts, including Morgan Stanley’s Erik Woodling, have also reduced their price targets for Apple’s shares, with concerns that AI’s setbacks could negatively affect iPhone’s sales in 2025 and 2025.
“It’s like it’s having a bit of an impact on Apple’s system of about a year behind,” said Deepwater Asset Management partner Gene Munster in an interview with Yahoo Finance. “On the surface, the message is that Apple Intelligence will be great. But under the surface, they have a lot of work to do.”
What led to Siri AI’s retreat?
Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, was to receive a major AI review as part of Apple Intelligence. The updates were intended to introduce personal context awareness, better application integration and more natural conversation capacity. However, Apple recently confirmed that these features are delayed, a movement that was unexpected given the aggressive marketing momentum of the company for them last year.
According to 9to5 It’s me. Apple even published an announcement with actor Bella Ramsey, who showed the new Siri driven by AI in action. The company’s decision to go back in the announcement suggests that it was surprised by the technical challenges involved in achieving Siri’s IA improvements as promised.
How did the public react?
Apple’s failure to deliver on its AI promises has long been a source of strong criticism from Apple observers. In particular, technical journalist John Gruber published a scam entitled “Something is broken in the state of Cupertino”, in which he questioned Apple’s ability to compete in space AI. Gruber submitted that the company may have overpromote the AI capabilities it was not ready to send, raising concerns that Apple Intelligence might end up being a little more than “vaporware”
Similarly, technical analyst Ben Thompson stated that Apple’s delays suggest that the company ”tryed to do too soon,” which resulted in obstacles to development. Meanwhile, the popular Brands Brownlee technical examiner commented that Apple AI’s first release did not have the “wave factor” necessary to convince users to upgrade their devices.
Can Apple recover from this hindrance AI?
Despite the setbacks, Apple remains a dominant force in the technology industry, and some analysts believe that the company can still save its AI strategy. One potential route, as Gruber suggests, is that Apple is focusing on making its devices the best platforms for third-party AI services rather than directly competing with OpenAI or Google. This would allow Apple to continue to benefit from AI advances without having to develop its own leading-edge models.
Apple also noted that it remained committed to AI. In a statement to Daring Fireball, the company acknowledged the delays but assured users that it is working on a “more personalized Siri” that will offer the integration of improved applications and contextual awareness. However, the company did not provide a specific schedule for the time these features will be available.
At the moment, Apple must show a difficult balance: maintaining consumer confidence while ensuring that its AI offers are truly useful and competitive. If the company does not soon offer significant improvements to IA, it risks losing ground to its rivals in a market that is increasingly driven by IA.
