Here’s some shocking news for some of you. Apple did not invent the smartphone. What the company did was improve the smartphone to make it a device that could be used universally by everyone no matter what they wanted a phone to do for them. Now, more than 17 years after the smartphone industry was radically changed, not to mention the world, the smartphone industry is about to change again according to Bank of America analysts. Will IntelliPhones change the world?According to FortuneBank of America’s senior equity analyst Wamsi Mohan is calling new AI-powered handsets IntelliPhones which are completely different animals than today’s smartphones. Mohan envisions a future where these powerful phones will use AI to drive quality-of-life improving features such as real-time language translation to appointment and travel scheduling and will even tutor you.
Mohan wrote Bank of America clients to say, “We see the introduction of AI smartphones (IntelliPhones) as a once in a decade upgrade event,” which the analyst says will lead to “a multi-year upgrade cycle similar to the step function improvement driven by the introduction of smartphones.” As regular smartphones find that they can’t compete with IntelliPhones, consumers will go on an upgrade spree similar to what happened when the iPhone was first released in June 2007.
Apple has an installed base of 2.2 billion active iPhone users and many of them might be convinced to upgrade once they see what AI-powered iPhone models can do for them. Showing consumers what the original iPhone could do for them was the theme of Apple’s first iPhone commercials and sold the public on the necessity of needing a touchscreen phone. Mohan sees Apple benefiting from a multi-year iPhone upgrade cycle as the IntelliPhone era starts.
Apple will preview its AI initiative at WWDC on June 10th
Bank of America’s analysts say that IntelliPhones will bring new AR and VR capabilities to the smartphone along with health-related features that will make these phones a ‘must-have’ in the minds of the public. The analysts write, “As AI technology evolves the gap between IntelliPhones and traditional smartphones is likely to widen further by offering even more sophisticated and personalized functions driving the desire to upgrade.” Mohan says that IntelliPhones will dominate AI on PCs “given their portability, features and cost.”
The note to clients included talk of an AI App Store where iPhone users can download AI-based apps for their handsets which will give Apple “a new layer of monetization,” Mohan wrote.
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