In recent weeks, a lot of information has emerged that indicates that Apple whose shares are down 12.45% year to date is in trouble on multiple fronts.
Apple Watch, iPhone and Mac PCs are falling in multiple markets, the US Company is also struggling to get anywhere near where Samsung and Google, who is set to release a new Google Pixel 9a next week are with their artificial intelligence offering.
Apple’s slow progress with everything involving Siri and artificial intelligence has also been has also slammed with senior director Robby Walker, who oversees the division describing the delays as an “ugly” situation.
Recently the Apple Siri team held all-hands meeting to discuss the dire situation the business is in in their race to deliver AI capable devices.
Apple is also scrambling to reclaim its footing in China, a market where AI-powered smartphones have already redefined what consumers now expect from a smartphone and PC.
Apple now finds itself on the defensive, forced to play by China’s rules while trying to stay competitive Nikki Asia recently claimed.
Recently it was revealed that global smartwatch shipments dipped 7% in 2024 compared to the year prior.
This is the first time since the original Apple Watch model debuted in 2014 that the market has seen any decline.
Based on data from the market research firm Counterpoint, Apple was hit hard by sluggish sales numbers with their Apple Watch sales falling by a massive 19%.
The recent launch of the iPhone 16e, which comes with the Companies A18 chip and the company’s first in-house modem for mobiles has been described by by some reviewers as “over priced” and lacking key features that have been downgraded compared to their premium model iPhones.
China is a key market for Apple and it’s here where the Companies revenues are continuing to fall.
In 2024, Apple’s iPhone experienced a significant decline, dropping 18.2% year-over-year in the final quarter, causing Apple to fall to third place in the Chinese smartphone market, behind Huawei and Xiaomi.
In 2025 their share is down 17.2% with revenues now in decline for three consecutive years.
Back at WWDC24 (Worldwide Developers Conference) Apple revealed that they planned on leveraging both on-device and cloud AI, with the introduction of a hybrid model that the Company claimed balanced privacy with advanced features.
That plan appears to have gone pear shaped.
Apple iPhone 16.
While Apple is fine-tuning its AI strategy, Chinese smartphone brands have surged ahead.
Huawei Technologies, Oppo and Xiaomi have already embedded generative AI into their operating systems, offering real-time personalization and deeper ecosystem integration Samsung and the Lenovo owned Motorola are already delivering advanced AI devices.
During a recent interview with Bloomberg senior Apple director Robby Walker said “We have other commitments across Apple to other projects. We want to keep our commitments to those, and we understand those are now potentially more timeline-urgent than the features that have been deferred.”
The meeting also hinted at tension between Apple’s Siri unit and the marketing division.
Walker said the communications team wanted to highlight features like Siri understanding personal context and being able to take action based on what’s currently on a user’s screen — even though they were nowhere near ready.
Those WWDC teases and the resulting customer expectations only made matters worse, Walker acknowledged. Apple has since pulled an iPhone 16 ad that showcased the features and has added disclaimers to several areas of its website noting they’ve all been punted to a TBD date. They were held back in part due to quality issues “that resulted in them not working properly up to a third of the time,” according to Bloomberg.
M4 MacBook Air
Apple has not publicly commented on the situation beyond last week’s statement
For years, investors have talked of Apple Inc. as a potential port of safety in times of market turmoil. That hasn’t been borne out this time around with investors burnt by the downturns happening across multiple areas of the Company.
The iPhone maker has tumbled in recent sessions, extending its year-to-date underperformance amid a growing number of risks that are overshadowing its traditional high-quality characteristics.
While Apple sits on a mountain of cash, they are now facing serious headwinds with the Company heavily exposed to tariff uncertainty and China, its artificial intelligence offerings have repeatedly fizzled, and its lucrative partnership with Google parent Alphabet is potentially at risk.
“People like to park in Apple, but right now the stock is expensive, and not only is growth slow, but the catalysts for growth are absent,” said Tim Ghriskey, senior portfolio strategist at Ingalls & Snyder.
“It doesn’t seem like AI is doing much for it, the environment is very uncertain, and it is very at risk with tariffs and China. While it isn’t as controversial as Tesla, it seems like it is just treading water, and it has been a while since we’ve seen anything truly innovative from it.”
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