When you are worth close to $3.4 trillion, you have the best playbook in business. Yes, Apple is a market leader and a category-king in many ways. But even as we note that, Apple is largely an old company (health-tech companies for the elderly, watch out), and the signs are everywhere. How? What it is offering in the new iPhone 16 is all fashionista with incremental marginal innovation!
If you remove the bitten apple from the logo, those products may not be worth really much. But with the bitten apple on them, perceptions come, and luxury emerges, and Apple will continue to collect.
Good People, the biggest protector of Apple today is the Western governments which are actually preventing Chinese brands from having their ways. If you allow Huawei Tri-Fold, Apple will have real challenges in New York, London, Berlin and more.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Of course, this is not to make a case for China since they return the favour in kind. But my point is that Apple is winning because its #1 competitor, Huawei, is not free to roam around. The most ambitious elevations in the world of smartphone designs are now coming from China. Have you seen the Huawei Tri-fold phone? Read it here.
The Chinese company began pre-orders for its Mate XT on Saturday, which coincides with Apple’s iPhone 16 release launch date, making it a worthwhile moment for tech enthusiasts and market watchers as both tech giants vie for dominance in the premium phone categories.
It is however worth noting that lately, Huawei has managed to displace Apple’s iPhone in terms of sales in China, largely due to a combination of technological innovation, patriotism, and geopolitical dynamics. In recent years, Huawei has invested heavily in research and development, especially in the 5G and foldable phone markets, which helped to maintain a competitive edge despite global challenges, such as the U.S. sanctions limiting their access to advanced chip technologies.
In the next ten years, Americans will drive sub-par electric vehicles since the best in the world now are made by Chinese brands like BYD and NIO, and they cannot export to the US. We are likely to see the same thing with phones because what Apple launched today is a sign of a protected species that will continue to thrive head or tail in its universe. Simply, when it comes to ergonomics, the Chinese are leading that game as the Huawei Tri-Fold has shown.
Sure, there is the Apple Intelligence which offers something new in this iPhone generation, cementing Apple’s current playbook of innovating mainly on software over hardware.
At the core of this new generation of iPhones is Apple Intelligence, a powerful AI-driven personal assistant that understands personal context, draws from user data to simplify everyday tasks, and protects user privacy through a robust Private Cloud Compute system. This hybrid approach between on-device processing and server-based models balances performance with privacy, ensuring that user data remains secure.
Apple Intelligence delivers a range of functionalities. Users can adjust the tone of their writing in real time with Writing Tools, which can help make notes or emails friendlier, more concise, or professional. Apple Intelligence also integrates into the Phone and Notes apps, allowing users to record, transcribe, and summarize audio. Even during a phone call, users can record conversations (with the necessary consent notifications) and later receive a summary that highlights key
LinkedIn Summary: Investors appeared not to be impressed by Apple’s new product lineup, where the highly anticipated iPhone 16 — along with the tech giant’s integration of artificial intelligence features over the next few months — served as the centerpiece. The refreshed phone has a faster A18 processor, a vertical camera layout and a new camera control button. Meanwhile, its AI software, dubbed Apple Intelligence, will help users summarize content, provide writing and transcription tools, allow users to create custom emojis and search video. Updates will start to roll out in the U.S. next month.
- Prices for the iPhone 16 start at $799 and go up to $1,199 for the Pro Max.
- New iPhone shipments are expected to rise 5% in the next fiscal year, Bloomberg Intelligence reports, but Apple’s AI ambitions are “still not fully baked,” and its most promising AI features, including ChatGPT, have yet to be unveiled.
- Apple is also leaning harder into healthcare features: Apple Watch is adding sleep apnea detection, while saying its new AirPods 2 can be used as clinical-grade hearing aids, with FDA approval expected “soon.”
---
Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (Feb 10 - May 3, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.