Apple cracks China with Alibaba for iPhone AI

Apple is also experiencing a seasonal slowdown in sales as shoppers wait on the introduction of the new iPhone Pro range. They expect powerful AI to be baked into the devices they select. “Increasing investment in agentic AI is becoming a competitive necessity rather than a differentiator,” Counterpoint warns.

Good for jobs

There’s also an impact on US employment. While Apple often faces criticism for having some of its assembly done in Asia, rather than the more expensive and inadequately resourced US, outgoing CEO Tim Cook recently explained that the company accounts for more than 400,000 jobs in the US. Many of those jobs are generated by the manufacturing of high-tech parts such as the protective glass used on iPhones.

While the significance may be easy to miss, this also means that any slowdown in device sales in the world’s second-largest economy — China — will also have a negative impact on US employment. Apple, meanwhile, continues to invest in improving US manufacturing skills and infrastructure. The company recently opened its Advanced Manufacturing Center in Houston in the presence of US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.

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AndyC

Andy Curtis is an award-winning security consultant, researcher and public speaker. He has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s, having been employed by state and federal government, leading healthcare and banking providers across three continents. He has given talks about computer security for some of the world’s largest companies, worked with law enforcement agencies on investigations into hacking groups, and is a regular voice on TV and radio explaining IT security threats.

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