WHY EVERYONE IS WRONG ON APPLE
WWDC and the Critics have come Out!
Apple will win on AI.
Repeat, Apple will win on AI.
Why?
It has what no one else has?
What Cyrus? They have “nothing.” Their new UI “sucks” their new design bad, “Liquid Glass is Liquid Ass”, “Steve Jobs would be so disappointed”, and on, and on…
Yet, using first principles thinking, let us just look at the facts and ignore the noise. What has Apple that others do not? Could there be a rationale why the “failed” Liquid Glass launch is Apple shrewdly just playing with UI because it knows something greater than UI is coming…?
“Apple will win on AI.” MARK IT. AI Counsel June 10, 2025
Apple has THREE THINGS that no one else has and is YEARS IF NOT DECADES AHEAD of any other player in these. Others have one or maybe two.
What is the Apple Magic? Three Simple Rationales
APPLE WILL WIN BECAUSE IT IS A SINGULAR DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL/S.
Where other companies are looking to grow users and OAI is doing such a good job its website is crashing today,Apple sits atop a Global Leadership Position (both in hardware phones in people’s hands, and also software its app ecosystem which rides atop the hardware) which no one else comes close to.
Apple HAS SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION “clocked” this very day into the millions worldwide. Adding a new feature or app is automatic. The competition is still driving people to their WEBSITES as if this were 1998.
Apple has the AI customers into the millions everywhere in the world (even China) worldwide right now.
(Stats below courtesy of Grok)
APPLE WILL WIN BECAUSE A HABITUATED NATIVE USE CASE FOR AI IS ALREADY ROLLED OUT AND CUSTOMERS ARE “TRAINED”.
I keep hammering that AI + (your own native data) is more powerful and better than AI + (someone else’s data).
In Apple we have customers already habituated to tinkering with their own data vis a vis Apple settings and features. The great desire for AI means that, if offered, Apple users will avidly use an embedded “Apple Intelligence” to augment and learn from and manipulate and create and permutate with their own data. They will.
Any other AI provider (save perhaps Google and secondarily Microsoft — to far lesser and less-personal extents than Apple) has user ADDING their data piecemeal or from repository set-ups which require technical intervention.
APPLE WILL WIN BECAUSE THE FUTURE OF AI IS - AUDIO.
This is my personal strong opinion and prediction. The future of AI is AUDIO.
I have three reasons for concluding this:
1. AUDIO OVERCOMES LITERACY.
2. AUDIO OVERCOMES LANGUAGE AND NATION.
3. AUDIO IS EASIER AND MORE IMMEDIATE FOR THE USER.
AI will continue to grow and expand around our planet. Meanwhile, literacy does not. Audio AI allows an onramp for all users everywhere of low education or no education at all. It is together more accessible and “more fun” and easier.
We now have instantaneous translation. In a place like America with many languages this tool will be perfected shortly by the market. Once it is, this means that content dispersion grows exponentially as brand new markets for priorly “language locked” content becomes available to all. Audio is the most natural way (and less expensive) to accomplish this in real time.
No screens! Many in the world do not have screens. But they have flip phones and other kinds of phones and audio devices. Think Siri and Alexa. Think in your car.
THINK A WHOLE NEW KIND OF DEVICE BEING DESIGNED BY IPHONE DESIGNER JONY IVE FOR/WITH OPEN AI. [USD6.4 billion]
This proves my thesis that audio is “IT” for AI.
And if this is so, it is win again for Apple. Instead of designing and building and distributing a brand new kind of audio AI device, it is already in millions of users hands. It is called the iPhone.
AI COUNSEL PREDICTION: Over time all of the major LLMs will have a natively hosted presence inside Apple’s ecosystem. OpenAI is already there. It is only a matter of time before the Anthropics and Mistrals of the world apprehend what a perfect distribution network is the Apple ecosystem for its tool/s. Gemini/Google will be the last and may hang on as a “Pepsi” to Apple “Coca-Cola.” They are already in deep also…
iPhone User Statistics (2025)
Number of iPhone Users
Global: Approximately 1.38 to 1.46 billion active iPhone users worldwide as of 2023–2024, representing about 18–21.67% of the global smartphone user base. Projections suggest this could reach 1.56 billion by the end of 2024.
United States: Around 155 million iPhone users in 2024, accounting for roughly 60–61.3% of U.S. smartphone users. This is a significant increase from 51 million in 2012, with a 203.9% growth over the decade.
China: Estimates vary, but China has a substantial iPhone user base, with over 41 million units sold in Q2 2023 alone, contributing to 22–24% of the smartphone market share. This could translate to 100–274 million users given China’s 1.1 billion smartphone users.
Other Countries: Japan leads in iPhone market share with 68.75% of smartphone users, followed by the U.S. (58.1%), Canada (60.47%), and Bermuda (98.45% iOS share). Countries like Bangladesh have the lowest iPhone penetration at 1%.
Number of Countries
iPhones are sold and used in over 175 countries, as the Apple App Store is available in that many regions and supports 40 languages.
Specific data on active iPhone users by country is limited, but high penetration is noted in affluent markets like the U.S., Japan, Canada, the UK, Germany, and Australia. Developing nations like India (4.02% market share) and Bangladesh show lower adoption.
Comparison to Other Smartphones
Market Share:
Global: Apple’s iPhone holds a 17–27.6% share of the global smartphone market by shipments or OS, compared to Android’s 70.8–71.67%. In Q3 2024, Apple had a 17.7% shipment share, trailing Samsung (20%).
U.S.: iPhones dominate with a 60% market share, compared to Samsung (20%) and other Android brands (22%).
Other Regions: Android dominates in markets like India (95.16%), Brazil (81.45%), Mexico (77.46%), and China (74.76%). iPhones lead in Japan (62.69–70%) and have strong shares in the UK (48%) and Canada.
User Base:
Android has over 3 billion active devices globally, outnumbering iPhones roughly 3:1. Samsung alone has an estimated 1.033 billion users.
iPhones have a 21.67–27.6% share of smartphone users globally, with 1.38–1.6 billion users, compared to Android’s 4–5 billion users (including Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, etc.).
Sales and Shipments:
In 2023, Apple shipped 231.8 million iPhones, surpassing Samsung (226.6 million) for the first time, claiming a 20% global shipment share. In Q1–Q3 2024, Apple shipped 151.3 million units.
Seven of the top 10 best-selling smartphones in 2021 and four in Q3 2024 were iPhones. The iPhone 13 was the best-selling smartphone in 2022, with a 5.5% market share.
Demographics and Behavior:
iPhone Users: Tend to be higher earners (average income $53,251 vs. $37,040 for Android users in the U.S.), younger (63.3% of U.S. users aged 25–34), and more likely female (51% globally). They spend more on apps and prefer the premium Apple ecosystem.
Android Users: More prevalent in budget-conscious markets, with greater variety in device price points ($150–$1,000+). They value flexibility and customization, with a broader global presence.
App Ecosystem:
The Apple App Store has 2.24 million apps (vs. 1.68 million on Google Play) and generated $86.8 billion in consumer spending in 2022, with higher per-user spending than Android.
Top iPhone apps in 2023 included Google, CapCut, and ChatGPT, with “Honor of Kings” leading in revenue ($1.6 billion).