Does the IPhone matter at all anymore?
For Wall Street, WWDC24 is not all or even primarily about AI. The Street cares mostly about how many iPhones will be sold next: Is there enough AI stardust here to unleash a normal/super-cycle of hardware upgrades in 2024-27?
Meanwhile, the Chinese are shipping billions of phones that cost $100 across the global south, with the capabilities of the IPhone just 3 years ago, running on HarmonyOS. The innovation isn't AI Stardust, but apps you never heard of, highly attuned to non-western audience needs
The emerging multi-polar world isn't just about geopolitics and trade; it's fundamentally about the evolution of technology. For the first time in a century, independent tech platforms that diverge significantly from the dominant Western tech stack are thriving. These platforms offer unique user experiences in hardware, software, and intelligence, free from Western cultural influence. Although it's still early days, these new platforms are set to play a defining role in the digital lives of the majority of the global population.
The use-cases highlighted by big tech in the West often show how disconnected these organizations are from the needs of the majority of the world's population. While prompts like "Hey Siri, book a hike with Lisa", "Hey Google, order me pizza", or "Hey AI, generate fun birthday images" might resonate with a wealthy elite, they are irrelevant and contrived to billions of people globally.