The iPhone 17 is selling like hotcakes in China. Is Apple's AI really not that important after all?

Last weekend, Apple CEO Tim Cook revealed in Shanghai that "Apple Intelligence is currently working hard to enter the Chinese market." Last month, a revelation by Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman brought a new timeline: Apple plans to bring system - level AI services to users in mainland China through subsequent updates of iOS 26 by the end of this year.

For Cook, Apple Intelligence must enter the Chinese market, even if the process is full of ups and downs, and even if it adopts a comprehensive cooperation model with Chinese platform companies (such as Baidu and Alibaba). In the era of AI, China is one of the most important overseas markets for Cook. Apple cannot afford to be without its own system - level AI services. It is willing to act as an integrator if necessary.

However, considerations at the levels of corporate development strategy and market value maintenance may not necessarily be in line with the current actual needs of users.

Will Apple Intelligence's entry into China turn into a complaining session?

If domestic users really start using Apple Intelligence, will it turn into a complaining event?

In October last year, the first batch of Apple Intelligence features were officially pushed, including "writing optimization", "summary generation", "image removal", etc. Along with subsequent updates, such as "Picture Paradise" and "Intelligent Emoji Drawing", since these are all minor features, users didn't have a strong impression. A user survey released by the recycling platform SellCell in December last year showed that among iPhone users (who can use Apple Intelligence), as many as 73% of the respondents thought that these system - level AI features had "minimal" improvement on the user experience.

(Image source: Apple)

The vast majority of iPhone users still want a "transformed" Siri. However, Apple, which was an early entrant in the field of intelligent voice assistants, still can't come up with a product that only meets the "passing" standard. Gurman's latest revelation brought "bad news": for the long - delayed new Siri, which is expected to be launched with iOS 26.4, some Apple engineers participating in the early testing are "worried" about its early - stage performance.

On one hand, Apple's AI development is facing difficulties. On the other hand, Apple's hardware (smartphones) has entered a three - year "major update" cycle.

Actually, iPhones can still sell well without AI

The latest data from market research firm Counterpoint Research shows that the sales of the iPhone 17 series in the first 10 days after its launch in China and the United States were 14% higher than those of the previous iPhone 16 series during the same period. In the domestic market, as of October 12, the activation volume of the iPhone 17 series had approached 4 million units (data source: @Digital Chat Station). With the launch of the iPhone Air in the domestic market, the alleviation of the supply shortage of the standard iPhone 17, and the price - cut promotions of the iPhone 17 Pro/Max, the new Chinese - version iPhones will see another sales peak during this year's Double 11.

The best is yet to come. A foldable iPhone is expected to be launched next year, and a "glass - like" iPhone is expected to be launched the year after. The market's expectations for Apple's profitability have been greatly raised by these hardware updates.

Have you noticed? Apple's technological updates that can arouse market sentiment and user attention have little to do with AI. Facts speak louder than words. Whether there is Apple Intelligence in the Chinese - version iPhones or not, the iPhone 17 series, as the prelude to the three - year "major update", can still sell extremely well.

(Image source: Leikeji Photography)

Therefore, whether the iPhone has stronger system - level AI capabilities and when the Chinese - version iPhones can use system - level AI services still only play a "icing on the cake" role rather than a "key" role in terms of user perception and market sales.

Why can't AI boost smartphone sales?

Then, there is a question: Why is the system - level AI capability still difficult to become the main selling point of a best - selling smartphone model (especially a super - hit model)?

The reasons are multi - faceted. First of all, currently, all smartphone hardware manufacturers, not just Apple, do not have industry - leading AI large - model capabilities. At the user level, the AI features with the highest perception and usage are intelligent assistants, such as ChatGPT in the United States and DeepSeek in China. In this situation, how many users will pay for a self - developed "XX phone GPT" by smartphone manufacturers? The input and output are completely out of proportion. Apple's Siri, with years of technological accumulation and personnel reserves, has repeatedly missed its release schedule and had its expectations continuously lowered. How dare other manufacturers take such a risk?

Secondly, whether it is ChatGPT or DeepSeek, as long as smartphone manufacturers are willing, in addition to the third - party app model, they can also be integrated into system services. If the system - level AI of each smartphone brand is powered by ChatGPT, DeepSeek, etc., where will the differentiated selling points of this functional service lie?

Moreover, hardware manufacturers are also waiting for more powerful edge - side AI capabilities. Since hardware devices such as smartphones and computers can run AI large models and process corresponding data well, why do they need to upload a large number of demand instructions to cloud servers, especially those of third - party platforms? Apple is particularly emphasizing that "compared with the M1 chip, the AI performance of the upcoming M5 - chip MacBook Pro is up to 6 times faster."

Finally, after the explosion in the past two years, the leading AI applications seem to have shown signs of a slowdown in growth this year. The latest report from market analysis firm Apptopia shows that since April this year, the global new downloads of ChatGPT have started to slow down significantly, and it is expected to decline by 8.1% month - on - month in October. DeepSeek, which became popular in China at the beginning of this year, has also faced a similar situation since the second half of the year. How much enthusiasm the general users still have for trying out a certain technology is a question that all smartphone manufacturers have to evaluate when planning system functions.

(Image source: OpenAI)

In conclusion, smartphone manufacturers' technological enthusiasm for AI is gradually fading. The ongoing new wave of AI competition is more likely to be a relatively long - term and cumulative technological evolution process. It is still unknown whether smartphone manufacturers can take the leading position in this process. Pessimistically speaking, in the foreseeable future, the core functional needs of users for smartphone AI seem to be "monopolized" by third - party apps.

For users, what they currently hope for more are a variety of intelligent assistants and tool applications that can solve various practical problems. In the Chinese and American markets where AI applications have been highly developed, is it really that important for smartphone manufacturers to build system - level AI capabilities?

Of course, all smartphone users dream that one day, when they pick up their iPhones, Android phones, or HarmonyOS phones and give a task command, they can immediately get a final solution to a complex problem. This requires the continuous joint efforts of app developers and smartphone manufacturers.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Leikeji", and is published by 36Kr with authorization.