Transcript:
Conway Gittens: Apple is ready to make its next move with the iPhone after watching sales of its most popular device fall in the latest quarter. CEO Tim Cook announced on X “get ready to meet the newest member of the family.” Tech watchers speculate the February 19 debut will be a new iPhone SE; a cheaper, low-end version of the iPhone family.
If the speculation is correct, this will be the first refresh for the SE since 2022. The upgraded device is expected to look more like an iPhone 14 with a bigger screen and FaceID. The animation video posted by Cook in his cryptic announcement might provide another clue: the round circle surrounding the Apple logo, which resembles a home button, disappears. Analysts say that could be a hint the iconic home button, that’s been around ever since the original iPhone launched back in 2007, is headed for extinction.
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Other features of the revamped SE are likely to include the A18 chip currently used in the iPhone 16, according to Bloomberg News, and the inclusion of Apple Intelligence. So far Apple’s foray into AI hasn’t paid -off with a jump in iPhone sales. In the fourth quarter, Apple sold around $69 billion worth of the device, but that’s a 3.5 percent drop from the record hit back in 2022. Apple is looking for a way to revive the device responsible for roughly half of all the money it collects.Turning to Thursday’s market action, shares of Apple rallied after Cook’s social media post. Tech stocks, as a whole, lead the rest of the market higher after a round of upbeat earnings. Investors also kept an eye on the latest economic data. New applications for jobless benefits dropped last week to 213,000, a sign the labor market isn’t getting any weaker. Combined with hotter inflation data, investors now see little reason to think the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates until autumn. That’ll do it for your Daily Briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m Conway Gittens with TheStreet.
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