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The company was late to the AI party vis-a-vis its mega-cap tech peers, launching Apple Intelligence in the U.S. only last December.
Apple Inc. (AAPL), which faces challenges in growing iPhone revenue, is exploring every avenue to restore the flagship device's momentum.
A Bloomberg report said on Thursday the company is implementing a management shakeup to expedite the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) following the recent delay in the launch of an upgraded version of its Siri virtual assistant.
The report said CEO Tim Cook has decided to move over Vision Pro creator Mike Rockwell and place him in charge of Siri amid waning confidence in the ability of AI head John Giannandrea to execute.
Siri will be removed out of the AI division and into the software division, and Rockwell will report to software head Craig Federighi, it added.
As such, the company was late to the AI party vis-a-vis its mega-cap tech peers and it launched Apple Intelligence in the U.S. only last December. The availability of the AI features in the rest of the world is expected to happen in a phased manner over the first half of the year.
The revamped Siri with AI enhancements faced delay due to engineering problems and software bugs, causing a delay in its rollout even as the company touted it as a major selling point for the iPhone 16 for months on TV.
The enhancements envisaged for the new Siri included the ability to tap into user data to better answer queries and take actions, a new system that would let the assistant more precisely control the apps and the capability to see what was currently on the screen and use that to better serve users.
Separately, the Apple TV+ premium subscription service is losing $1 billion per year, Variety reported, citing Information. The report put Apple’s subscriber count for this premium bracket at 45 million.
To put things into perspective, Disney (DIS) had 124.6 million in paid subscribers for its Disney+ streaming business by the end of 2024 and Netflix’ (NFLX) tally was at 300 million.
Apple reportedly toned down its spending on content to $4.5 billion annually from the $5 billion expended in the past years.
On Stocktwits, sentiment toward Apple stock stayed ‘bullish’ (65/100) and the message volume tapered off to ‘normal’ levels by the close of trading on Thursday.
The recent sell-off in Apple stock has increased its attractiveness to the retail crowd, with one user saying they were looking to get it on a steal and hold it for long term.
Another user said the stock would go up on Friday during the quadruple “witching” — which refers to the simultaneous expiration of stock index futures contracts, single-stock options, options on stock-index futures and stock index options.
Apple stock ended Thursday’s session down 0.53% at $214.10, way off its Dec. 26 all-time high of $260.10. It is down 14.41% year-to-date.
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