AI more important to investors than a headset, claims Ming-Chi Kuo

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited July 2023

Investors are less interested in Apple's headset than they are about AI, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims ahead of Monday's packed WWDC keynote.

Siri, Apple's main public-facing machine learning feature
Siri, Apple's main public-facing machine learning feature



The WWDC keynote is expected to chiefly focus on the Apple VR and AR headset, but that's only one part of the sprawling empire investors are interested in. According to TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, investors are more keen to know about its AI-related efforts.

In a Sunday tweet, Kuo offers some notes from "recent discussions with investors" talking about WWDC. On the headset, it is believed that if the announcement is successful, it could "immensely impact 3D interaction design and 3D computer graphics," such as ChatGPT has on AI and AI-generated content (AIGC).

If the announcement can beat market expectations, Kuo feels the headset can "still benefit Apple and key supplier stocks."

However, the bulk of Kuo's post revolves around the aforementioned AI and AIGC, as investors have "recently been more interested in when Apple will launch ChatGPT-like services" than the headset. In fact, the long-term success of the headset apparently hinges on whether it can "integrate highly with AI/AIGC."

Part of this is due to the lack of potential "substantial revenue and profit" for suppliers over the next two years compared to the apparent promise of AI. Kuo cites Nvidia's "marked better-than-expected Q2 guidance" as evidence of this shift in focus.

Kuo does offer that there is a chance for AI or AIGC services to appear in WWDC, with such an announcement able to "help continue the current AI investment sentiment."

If Apple's requirements for AIGC entail higher hardware specifications, Kuo adds it could lead to a "hardware replacement demand" increase.

While Apple is certainly working on building up its machine learning efforts, it may be a case of other developers taking advantage of similar services first. One April survey determined that 80% of Mac developers intended to integrate ChatGPT into their apps.

Read on AppleInsider

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,233member
    If Apple can demo some amazing AI that runs on-device, it would be huge and further validate the switch to Apple Silicon.
    TheSparklewatto_cobraBart Y
  • Reply 2 of 15
    Maybe it’s just my age but the headset is of zero interest to me. In my defence it’s of zero interest to my kids either. Apple seems to really have placed some chips on this. Hopefully a hit for them. 

    AI on the other hand is of great interest. I’m praying for a major Siri boost one of these days, but would equally settle for my HomePods answering questions I ask without sending the answer to my phone or asking me to ask again from my phone. It’ll be sending the time to my phone at this rate. Absolute garbage. 
    williamlondonelijahggrandact73sconosciuto
  • Reply 3 of 15
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,171member

    under Siri Suggestions & Privacy 


    baconstangargonaut
  • Reply 4 of 15
    AIGC is a misnomer. It's human generated content that is being run through a program that is marketed as "AI" in order to try and avoid lawsuits. 
    pscooter63watto_cobrasconosciuto
  • Reply 5 of 15
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 2,165member
    Fascinating. After making his name predicting (and re-predicting until he sometimes gets it right) hardware features and product release dates, Ming-Chi Kuo is branching out to let us know what he learned from "recent discussions with [unnamed] investors." 

    Now that’s some truly valuable information. It’s really important to know what ‘people are saying.’
    williamlondondewmeargonautwatto_cobrasconosciuto
  • Reply 6 of 15
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,151member
    For me, neither headsets nor 'AI'.
    I want a new damn iMac to replace my 5K!
    edited June 2023 williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 15
    boboliciousbobolicious Posts: 1,171member
    ... without veracity and integrity could AI and AR actually kill the internet ... ?  Does a cancer consume its host ...?

    For further consideration: ‘I've got you by the motherboard’…0.16
    edited June 2023 williamlondonwaveparticle
  • Reply 8 of 15
    humbug1873humbug1873 Posts: 168member
    This is one of my personal speculations on the new headset thingy: Voice interaction with Siri to control the device (on device and not via internet). AI should be a significant part anyway and with Apple's current Silicon Chips also 'easy' to deliver without draining the batteries too much.

    So far Siri itself is just too weak to do that right, but together with a ChatGPT like ability to follow a dialog that would make extreme sense.

    Last but not least: We all know Apple will not talk about these kind of thing until it is deemed ready for consumption. But, current AI implementations (as impressive as they already are) are still not fully there yet.
    Bart Ybaconstang
  • Reply 9 of 15
    mattinozmattinoz Posts: 2,482member
    I've heard Investors are throwing money at any pitch that can include an AI buzz phrase. 
    Nobody knows what will stick and be the next gold mine so they are splashing cash. 

    It's investor FOMO out there. 
    Bart Y
  • Reply 10 of 15
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 8,006member
    All of this will eventually end up as something very 'glasses-like' or smaller. That is obviously the long term goal and getting there will be slow and full of bumps.

    Part of the roadmap necessarily involves first generation hardware which doesn't need to meet any 'market expectations' except for Apple’s.

    Early adopters will have to be very aware of what isn't said at any presentation. Probably more than with what is said. 

    In fact, the entire industry has been moving to the same overall goals for years now.

    Will AI be a key part of it? Of course it will - at some point.

    That's part of industry goals too but AI isn't limited to the CE environment. In fact, CE is not where AI will see its major advances. 

    Things converge. It's how technology moves forward. 

    From a purely product centered viewpoint, I think it's wrong to speak of 'doom' or 'failure' when the ultimate goal of the product today is not to resolve all the known issues in one go.
     
    It can't, and we know it can't. That applies to an Apple device and any other XR device currently on the market or coming to market. 

    Industry wants to move the 'screen' to a more immersive position. That means taking it out of your hand and getting it onto your head/eyes.

    That makes a lot of sense.

    Phones and tablets won't go away but, long term, XR will carve out an ever increasing niche for itself (along with other' sensorial' aspects which, for some reason, no one is talking about). 

    Apple is dependent on investors but XR won't have any real impact for a few years so whatever gets announced shouldn't impact that side of things. 

    Market expectations should be the least of anyone's worries. 





  • Reply 11 of 15
    Investing in AR and AI are both hedges against future disruption. They are not going to make significant revenue in the window investors are looking in. However, tech companies losing the race in these areas are doing it at their peril and may end up the next BlackBerry. Running large AI models on end devices is still years away, so only cloud AI is making money at the moment.
    edited June 2023
  • Reply 12 of 15
    Maybe it’s just my age but the headset is of zero interest to me. In my defence it’s of zero interest to my kids either. Apple seems to really have placed some chips on this. Hopefully a hit for them. 

    AI on the other hand is of great interest. I’m praying for a major Siri boost one of these days, but would equally settle for my HomePods answering questions I ask without sending the answer to my phone or asking me to ask again from my phone. It’ll be sending the time to my phone at this rate. Absolute garbage. 
    Agree - based on having tried various "VR/AR" headsets over the past 30 years, I'm not sure what use I would have for them, personally.  A version of Siri that wasn't a joke, on the other hand...
  • Reply 13 of 15
    waveparticlewaveparticle Posts: 1,497member
    Only Apple may have the ability to harness AI. Musk?
  • Reply 14 of 15
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,036member
    AI is the next crypto hype for investor pyramid schemes. Maybe it’s my advanced age, but investors want some get rich quick scheme, rather than real engineering advances that will take years to commercially succeed.

    Now the LLM AI neuro-networks is an incredible feat. Its problem is the LLM GPT-4, just makes stuff up. Convincingly. A carnival barker extraordinaire. That is what is driving investors to AI. 


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