Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) expects to sell nine million more iPhones in the second half of 2024 than last year. It expects its new AI features to be the catalyst for the surge. If successful, that would mean 90 million units sold from July through December.
Bloomberg gathered the numbers from suppliers and others with relationships with Apple. Much of last year’s slow sales were driven by the erosion of Apple’s market share in China, the world’s largest smartphone market. Apple still faces AI smartphones from local companies, including Huawei and Xiaomi.
Apple needs a major win to get its stock back on track. After a sell-off early in the year, Apple’s announcement of AI products at its June developer meeting pushed the shares up. The stock price has improved enough, so its performance has been slightly better than the S&P 500 this year. But, traders are used to Apple outperforming the market. The stock price of big tech rival Amazon (NASDAQ: AAPL) is up 31%. Alphabet’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) is up 37% in 2024.
Apple had a hurdle before it announces the iPhone 16 in September. It will disclose earnings next month. Investors will probably accept mediocre numbers because that has been all Apple has produced recently. The reaction to the following quarter will be different because it will include the period during which the iPhone 16 was released.
The lack of AI products is part of what made Apple’s stock underperform. Strong AI features will make the stock recover.
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