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Wedbush published a research report saying that a recent survey of the ** chain showed that Apple (AAPLUS) demand in China is "significantly stable".
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the iPhone is likely to see some "incremental growth" this year, suggesting that the iPhone 15 "is catalyzing an upgrade cycle that exceeds Wall Street's expectations," adding that iPhone shipments should be 22.5 billion to 2between 300 million units.
"While the downturn in the Chinese market has been a dark cloud over Apple's story, we expect iPhones to see year-over-year growth during the Chinese New Year period as some of Apple's ** campaigns and enhanced marketing campaigns in Chinese mainland have been very successful," Ives wrote in a report. ”
While Apple still faces competition issues in China, Ives added that it is clear that "very few consumers" are leaving Apple's ecosystem, which adds to his optimism.
Looking ahead, Ives said Apple has several major catalysts, including the company's push for generative AI, which is expected to be cemented at this year's developer conference.
"We believe that Apple's Super Bowl moment will be the final unveiling of the generative AI technology being developed in Apple's HQ labs and introducing the technology to developers and consumers at WWDC in June, after which we expect the iPhone 16 to have exclusive AI capabilities," Ives said. ”
Ives added that as Apple moves further into the services sector, further advances in generative AI could generate about $5 billion or more in annualized revenue for the company.