Day: June 10, 2024

Rebecca Zisser/BI

• Apple’s AI moment has finally arrived.
• The iPhone maker is expected to announce a host of new AI features for its products at WWDC.
• Critically, it will provide an opportunity to show Apple isn’t lagging behind rival Google.

Tim Cook has a big task on his hands at Apple’s developer showcase this week: proving the company isn’t a million miles behind Google on artificial intelligence.

Since the start of the generative AI boom, sparked by the release of ChatGPT, the Apple CEO has remained largely silent on AI. On the other hand, his major rival in Mountain View has raced ahead and put the technology into everything from its search engine to Android.

Critically, Google’s efforts to weave AI into its mobile operating system have threatened to make Apple look out-of-sync. Android users have been introduced to much-hyped generative AI features, while iOS users have been left to make do with an outdated Siri.

At last month’s IO conference, for instance, Google introduced upgrades to Gemini’s integration with Android that turn it into a smarter, on-device virtual assistant aimed at “getting even better at understanding the context of what’s on your screen and what app you’re using.”

Sameer Samat is Google’s head of Android.

Google

There’s a lot more coming in the pipeline. During IO, Sameer Samat, Google’s Android chief, told my colleague Alistair Barr that AI presented a “once-in-a-generation moment to reinvent what phones can do.”

It’s now up to Apple to show at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that it can use AI to do the same.

All eyes on Apple

Apple’s chance to show off its AI couldn’t come at a more timely moment.

For months, it’s been battling sliding iPhone sales in key markets like China, where sales fell by a drastic 19% in the first three months of the year per Counterpoint Research data, as competitors deliver products with a fresher feel than Apple’s staid annual updates.

As a result, investors and fanboys alike have been banking on Apple to drive fresh demand for its smartphones by integrating industry-leading AI features into iOS. Rumors swirling ahead of WWDC suggest Apple is ready to deliver.

The headline announcement everyone will be waiting for is a confirmation from Cook that Apple has secured a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into its mobile operating system, as reported by Bloomberg.

Apple’s broader AI rollout, which Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said would be called “Apple Intelligence,” will also aim to provide users with generative AI-led context for services such as texts and emails and give Siri a much-needed revamp that gives it the power to edit your photos, for example.

It’ll still be some time before users get to try out Apple’s AI themselves. The iOS update is expected to be released in September to coincide with the launch of the iPhone 16.

That said, Apple will be confident in its ability to close the gap on Google. Cook will be ready to show everyone that iOS can compete with Android in the AI era.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

• Apple’s WWDC event kicks off a big week for the stock market. 
• The May CPI report, crucial for Fed decisions on rate cuts, is set to be released Wednesday.
• This week has a Fed meeting, the May PPI, initial jobless claims, and a consumer-sentiment report.

It’s shaping up to be a big week for the stock market, with a slew of economic data set to be released, along with a Fed meeting and an all-important Apple event.

Here’s what investors should keep an eye on this week.

Apple’s WWDC event

In what’s being called Apple’s most important event in a decade, the company kicks off its weeklong developers conference this week.

The big event is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. ET, which will include a livestream keynote from Apple that should detail its next-generation iOS software platform.

Investors are eagerly anticipating Apple to announce its AI vision for the future of the iPhone, followed by the iPhone 16 launch a few months later.

You can tune into the live event here.

May inflation

The key May consumer-price-index report is set to be released Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. ET.

The inflation report will help inform investors and the Federal Reserve as to when the first interest-rate cut of this cycle might occur.

Economists expect core CPI to rise 3.5% year over year, while month-over-month core CPI is expected to increase by 0.3%.

“The leading indicators all point to softer inflation as evidenced by the U Mich surveys, falling oil, tanking car prices, goods deflation, even the ISM surveys,” Fundstrat’s Tom Lee said Monday.

If inflation does come in lower than expected, it should lead to a more dovish Fed and increased chances of the first interest-rate cut occurring in September.

The Fed meeting

The Fed plans to announce its latest decision on interest rates on Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell set to take the podium to deliver remarks at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Expectations are for the Fed to keep interest rates unchanged, though the meeting will also see the latest update to the central bank’s “dot plot,” which will show where officials see rates heading over the next few years.

The most important aspect of the meeting will be Powell’s tone when he speaks following the meeting.

“While the Fed remains data dependent, the leading indicators point to lower inflation ahead, which in turn, points to a Fed becoming more dovish,” Lee said.

Jobless claims

Initial jobless claims are set to be released Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET, giving investors a glimpse into the health of the labor market.

Expectations are for 225,000 initial jobless claims, which would be slightly lower than the 229,000 jobless claims reported last week.

A high jobless-claims number would spark concern about a deteriorating labor market, which would bolster the case for imminent rate cuts, while raising concerns of an economic slowdown.

Wholesale inflation

The producer price index will give investors another look at the state of inflation when it’s released Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Economists expect producer prices to have risen 0.1% month over month in June, which would be a significant slowdown from last month’s reading of 0.5%.

Consumer sentiment

Finally, preliminary consumer sentiment for June will be released Friday morning at 10 a.m. ET from the University of Michigan.

Economists expect a reading of 72.3, which would represent a slight increase from last month’s reading of 69.1.

Overall, Lee is feeling good about the prospects for higher stock prices this week amid the economic dataset’s release.

“While we expect markets to be nervous this week, we think this will prove to be a positive overall for equities,” Lee said.

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