Can Tim Cook stop Apple going the same way as Nokia?

A YEAR ago, when Apple used a jamboree at its home in Silicon Valley to unveil its artificial-intelligence (AI) strategy, grandly known as Apple Intelligence, it was a banner occasion.

The following day the firm’s value soared by more than US$200 billion – one of the biggest single-day leaps of any company in American history. The excitement was fuelled by hopes that generative AI would enable Apple to transform the iPhone into a digital assistant – in effect, Siri with a brain – helping to resuscitate flagging phone sales. Twelve months later, that excitement has turned into almost existential dread.

It is not just that many of last year’s promises have turned out to be vapourware. Siri’s overhaul has been indefinitely postponed, and Apple Intelligence is no match for other voice-activated AI assistants, such as Google’s Gemini. Meanwhile, Apple’s vulnerabilities in China have been exposed by US President Donald Trump’s trade war. Moreover, it faces new legal and regulatory challenges to the two biggest parts of its high-margin services business.