Key points of the Apple conference call: Very excited about "Apple Intelligence", will increase AI investment year by year

Apple achieves its best June quarter performance in history. During the earnings call following the performance, Tim Cook expressed great excitement about "Apple Intelligence" and plans to increase AI investment year by year.

Apple delivered an impressive earnings report overnight, surpassing revenue and profit expectations for the sixth consecutive quarter, setting all-time highs for total revenue and EPS in the June quarter. Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri provided insights on the company's performance, service business growth, and artificial intelligence plans during the earnings call.

Apple excelled in the service business and iPad sales, while actively expanding in the AI field. However, growth in iPhone and Mac businesses slowed down, coupled with increased regulatory pressure, Apple will face challenges in the coming quarters.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, Apple expects revenue to achieve year-on-year growth, with growth similar to the second quarter, and service revenue is expected to maintain double-digit growth, with gross margin expected to be between 45.5% and 46.6%. Here are the key points from this earnings call:

Increased AI investment, Apple Intelligence to be launched gradually within the year

Tim Cook is optimistic about the company's efforts in the field of artificial intelligence.

Cook stated that he is "very excited" about Apple Intelligence, the upcoming AI platform that will provide iPhone users with text summaries, image generation, and other functions.

Cook revealed:

Apple Intelligence will be launched in phases, with some features rolling out within the year. Versions in languages other than American English will not be available at the initial launch. It is expected that by the end of this year, Siri will integrate ChatGPT functionality.

Cook also mentioned that Apple is increasing its investment in artificial intelligence and machine learning, planning to increase investment year by year to prepare for the launch of Apple Intelligence this fall.

Cook mentioned that Apple has been investing more funds and reallocating more resources to develop Apple Intelligence, with AI spending showing year-on-year growth in this quarter:

What we're doing is moving many people who were originally doing other jobs to the AI department. From the perspective of data centers, we use a hybrid approach. So we have our own data centers as well as partners. Capital expenditures will be borne by partners, and we will pay the costs.

iPhone 15 series outperforms iPhone 14, significant increase in iPad sales

Cook stated that the performance of the iPhone 15 series surpassed that of the iPhone 14 series. As of the quarter ending in June, the installation base of iPhones reached a historic high.

Regarding the upcoming iPhone 16, Cook mentioned:

The company is "very excited" about Apple Intelligence and the value it brings to users, believing it will be another strong reason for users to upgrade.

Although the Apple Intelligence feature will be provided for free updates with iOS 18 and macOS 15, they require the latest Apple devices - such as M1 or higher versions of iPad and Mac or iPhone 15 Pro. The upcoming new iPhone 16 models to be released this fall will also be compatible with Apple Intelligence, which may motivate more people to purchase new phones.

Specifically, iPhone revenue decreased slightly by 1% to $39.3 billion, Mac revenue increased by 2% to $7 billion, and home, accessories, and wearable devices revenue decreased by 2% to $8.1 billion. Thanks to the launch of iPad Pro (M4) and iPad Air (M2), iPad sales saw a significant increase, with iPad revenue reaching $7.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 24%.

Services Business Reaches New High

Service business revenue reached $24.2 billion, hitting a historical high, with a year-on-year growth of 14.2%. The number of paid subscription users exceeded 1 billion, setting a new record, with advertising, cloud services, and payment services all achieving new highs.

Apple's CFO Luca Maestri stated:

Seeing the continued growth in customer engagement with its ecosystem, Apple has done "very well" in improving service quality and increasing the amount of available content, with plans to continue adding new content to Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade.

Facing Regulatory Challenges

Maestri stated that Apple is continuing discussions with the European Commission on compliance issues with its "Digital Markets Act." Apple has seen a "high level of acceptance" from developers for these changes, and overall, the performance of the services business and App Store has been "quite good."

Maestri reiterated that the App Store accounts for 7% of Apple's total revenue in the EU.

Cook said:

Apple is working to understand the regulatory requirements it faced before launching Apple Intelligence in the EU. When iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia are released, the Apple Intelligence feature will not be available in the EU