Investors and developers will be watching closely to see how Apple integrates a reworked Siri across its operating systems and wider ecosystem at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Citi said after an expert call with IDC analysts.
In a note to investors on Friday, Citi highlighted the key issue: will Apple present autonomous agents that can carry out multi-step tasks for users? Examples include managing reservations, guiding shopping choices and coordinating travel logistics across multiple apps.
The bank also flagged the importance of any announcements around new developer tools and application programming interfaces that would enable third parties to build AI-native experiences on iOS.
Despite the attention on AI features, Citi urged restraint in expectations. Summarizing IDC’s assessment, the firm wrote: "This year's WWDC will likely mark Apple's AI catchup phase rather than be a breakthrough AI moment." That view frames the conference as a necessary building stage for future capabilities, rather than an unveiling of a radically differentiated AI product today.
On device demand, IDC experts told Citi that near-term consumer interest in iPhones is being driven more by hardware design than by AI capabilities. IDC has revised its demand outlook, now expecting global iPhone demand to fall 5% this year and demand in China to drop 3%. Those forecasts are an improvement from earlier projections of declines of 8% globally and 9% in China.
Citi and IDC do not see a sizable AI-led upgrade cycle emerging in the near term. One reason noted is that many of the forthcoming Apple Intelligence features will run on existing devices beginning with the iPhone 16 family, reducing the immediate incentive for consumers to replace hardware solely for new AI functions.
On the question of monetizing agentic AI through services, Citi described the opportunity as real but not immediate. The firm said Apple first needs to demonstrate clear user value from Apple Intelligence before meaningful monetization of services tied to agentic AI becomes realistic.
What to watch at WWDC:
- Demonstrations of autonomous agents that complete multi-step tasks across apps
- New developer tools and APIs that allow third parties to create AI-native iOS experiences
- Signals on how Apple plans to show value for Apple Intelligence before pursuing service monetization