Apple failed to demonstrate 'artificial intelligence (AI) innovation' at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC25), which started on the 9th (local time). Evaluations are emerging that the leadership of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Cook, who has been leading the company since the passing of co-founder Steve Jobs in 2011, is shaking. Although achievements have been made in pioneering the Chinese market, the response to AI services has been delayed due to a focus on autonomous driving (Apple Car) and the metaverse (Vision Pro).
Market analysts suggest that Apple's shift from its long-held 'closed operation' policy to an open strategy by collaborating with OpenAI is a response to the absence of AI technology.
◇“If unable to respond to the AI era, it will become like Nokia”
Most of the new AI features introduced by Apple at WWDC25 are the same as those presented by Samsung Electronics last year with the launch of the Galaxy S24 series. Apple emphasized that it offers real-time translation through on-device AI (technology that performs AI functions on the device itself without server consolidation) and can recognize objects displayed on the screen to search for related information. Regarding the release of the 'Siri 2.0' version, which combines generative AI with a voice recognition assistant to enhance usability, it noted that "more time is needed."
Samsung Electronics implemented on-device AI-based translation features when it launched Galaxy AI in early last year, and also introduced the ability to find images displayed on the screen immediately through collaboration with Google. The new AI features unveiled by Apple this time will be applied starting at the end of the year, which means there is about a two-year gap compared to Galaxy AI.
An IT industry official said, "Apple, which opened the smartphone market with the release of the iPhone in 2007, has been called a 'first mover,' but is quickly losing its competitiveness as it enters the AI era," adding that it has turned into a fast follower trying to catch up with Galaxy AI.
Apple aimed to capture consumer interest by unveiling the user interface (UI) 'liquid glass' instead of AI. The notification window, icons, and search bar are made translucent, allowing the background to appear blurred even when the window is open. Jessica Karl, a Bloomberg columnist, stated that "CEO Tim Cook is facing about a 19% drop in stock prices this year" and questioned whether a transparent app could save the company.
The Economist also published an article titled, 'Can Tim Cook prevent Apple from becoming like Nokia?' immediately after the event. Once dominating the global mobile phone market, Nokia rapidly fell after Apple launched the smartphone and failed to respond to the market. This suggests that the absence of Apple's AI technology could be a factor in the company's downfall. The Economist noted, "When Apple unveiled its AI strategy, called 'Apple Intelligence,' a year ago, the stock price soared due to hopes that Apple could transform iPhones into digital assistants through generative AI and revive stagnant smartphone sales," pointing out that "what was hope 12 months ago has now turned into fear."
◇ Apple AI hindered by Apple Car and the metaverse, partnering with OpenAI and Google
The background for Apple's delay in responding to the AI market is attributed to the Apple Car project promoted by CEO Tim Cook. Apple initiated the project to develop the 'Apple Car' in 2014, hiring thousands of employees and investing about $10 billion (13.48 trillion won) over a decade. However, it achieved no significant results and scrapped the project entirely last year, intending to focus its management resources on catching up with lagging AI technology.
The Vision Pro, dubbed 'Tim Cook's ambitious project,' has also yielded minimal results relative to its investment. Apple acquired the German augmented reality (AR) company Metaio in 2015 and the AR headset startup Vurbana in 2017. Since 2016, at least 1,000 employees have been allocated to the Technology Development Group (TDG) to develop metaverse device technologies.
While Apple successfully grabbed attention by unveiling the mixed reality (MR) headset 'Vision Pro' at WWDC in June 2023, it failed to achieve widespread popularity. Sales of Vision Pro in the U.S. from the first to the second quarter last year reached 170,000 units, significantly below expectations of 300,000 to 400,000 units.
Analyzes suggest that CEO Tim Cook has somewhat neglected the development of in-house AI technology while pushing two large projects. According to Bloomberg's recent reports, Apple has had fewer AI development personnel compared to competitors for a long time, and securing high-cost graphics processing units (GPUs) necessary for training large language models (LLMs) has been inadequate.
CEO Tim Cook appears to be presenting 'breaking away from the closed operation policy' as a solution to the absence of AI technology. He announced Apple's own AI 'Apple Intelligence' and collaboration with OpenAI at last year's WWDC. This year, he has achieved some performance improvements by combining the image generation tool 'Image Playground' with ChatGPT, but comprehensive cooperation has not yet been observed.
Apple is reportedly reviewing options to integrate AI search functions from Perplexity, OpenAI, and Anthropic into its Safari browser. There are also reports of discussions with Google, which is competing in the smartphone operating system (OS) market regarding AI collaboration. Some analysts suggest the possibility of collaboration with DeepSeek, citing that CEO Tim Cook positively evaluated the company during his visit to China last March.
Business Insider commented that "Apple has a distribution network that can put over 1 billion devices in people's pockets without advanced AI, so its future outlook is not entirely bleak," while also diagnosing that "being entirely reliant on others for core technologies that will become minimum business requirements (Table Stakes) in a few years is undesirable."