iPhone 16 demand driven by AI induces Wedbush to hike Apple stock target

AppleInsider

Investment firm Wedbush is bullish on Apple AI and its effect on iPhone 16 sales, suggesting it will drive a supercycle going into 2025.

iPhone 16 sales could be driven by AI demand

Wedbush has been praising Apple's initiatives, with comments about Apple Vision Pro being a push into AI and telling investors not to worry about China sales.

In the latest note seen by AppleInsider, Wedbush raises its price target again from $250 to $275. It bases its bullish stance on Apple's expected AI push in the second half of 2024.

The note says Apple's introduction of AI during WWDC could be one of the most important events of the decade for Apple CEO Tim Cook. It will lay the foundation for what will create an iPhone 16 supercycle as consumers look to buy devices with an AI focus.

It calls the exclusive AI features coming to iPhone 16 a setup for a renaissance of growth that sparks a massive overdue upgrade cycle into 2025. China's slowdown will see a turnaround too, with an expectation that June will be the last and lowest negative growth quarter, leading to a positive turn in September.

Apple has hinted at its AI push in 2024, and all eyes are on WWDC, where iOS 18 and the other operating system updates will be revealed. If there's a time for Apple to go all in on AI, it's with the operating system releasing alongside iPhone 16, hence investors' bullishness.



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ssfe11

It’s kind of hard not to see this AI Supercycle on its way for all Apple devices. In 3 years every iPhone owner will have upgraded to AI iPhone. Services will Supercycle as well with an Ai App Store leading the way

chasm

Although the "AI" features in iOS18 may be a big selling point, I get a sense that a sizeable percentage of people in recent years have been holding on to their iPhones for longer than is typical, as have I, for one reason: the "new" models of the past three years have nice new features too, but they mainly just iterate on the iPhone 12 or maybe even going back to the 11.

If you have an 11 or later, your iPhone is likely doing pretty much everything you want. The iPhone 14 saw a notable bump in camera quality, but it wasn't enough to spur a "supercycle" of upgrades.

The excitement around "AI" features making it easier for "normal" people to leverage more of the iPhone's abilities more easily, plus the dangling carrot of more battery life and general other improvements has finally got the mainstream iPhone owner thinking about doing an upgrade this year, in my view.

40domi

I personally won't be upgrading my 15 Pro for the AI features, I think they are so over hyped & dangerous to boot.
However millions of gullible people will, particularly the younger generations.
For me to upgrade, all camera's need to be 48mp and the battery to have a big improvement, the big camera bump disappearing would also be a plus for me, other than that the 15 Pro is brilliant

slow n easy

Well maybe I'll be upgrading my phone after all. I was thinking I wouldn't because of the bigger size rumor and I don't want a bigger phone. But it seems like this will be a pretty big upgrade. The rumors do tend to be accurate or mostly accurate. 

slow n easy

chasm said:

Although the "AI" features in iOS18 may be a big selling point, I get a sense that a sizeable percentage of people in recent years have been holding on to their iPhones for longer than is typical, as have I, for one reason: the "new" models of the past three years have nice new features too, but they mainly just iterate on the iPhone 12 or maybe even going back to the 11.

If you have an 11 or later, your iPhone is likely doing pretty much everything you want. The iPhone 14 saw a notable bump in camera quality, but it wasn't enough to spur a "supercycle" of upgrades.

The excitement around "AI" features making it easier for "normal" people to leverage more of the iPhone's abilities more easily, plus the dangling carrot of more battery life and general other improvements has finally got the mainstream iPhone owner thinking about doing an upgrade this year, in my view.

That put a smile on my face, because when the iPhone 12 came out, everyone talked about how it was a very iterative update. For me it was a must have, for MagSafe, although I was very upset that the Pro Max had a better camera than the Pro. I feel like the only difference between the Pro and the Pro Max should be screen size because I don't think I should be missing out for preferring a smaller size that fits more easily in my pocket.

AniMill

AI is the last reason I’ll be upgrading to 16. The main reason will - hopefully - be a tetraprysm 5x tele lens. My Mini 12 is aging hard, but I detest Max iPhones. I hope the 16 Pro gets that 5x. Screw AI, especially if Apple wants to charge for Siri! Stupid.

eightzero

Never quite understand how people can decide if they will/ will not buy a product before it is even announced, much less what its features are. What I can say is I like my iPhone 15 pro max, as it was a good upgrade from my iPhone X. I tend to only upgrade after 3-4 cycles, so my guess is I won't be doing so until iPhone 19 or so.

daven

My cell phones have been a Motorola Razr, iPhone 5, and iPhone XS Max. So long time between updates and it may be this fall’s iPhone is my next one. For me the satellite emergency is the selling point as I do a lot of backcountry hiking but the AI is a big plus too.