Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) basic model returns to the top after two years! iPhone 16 wins the title of the top-selling smartphone in Q1 market.

Apple Inc., the American consumer electronics giant, released the base model of the iPhone 16, which became the best-selling smartphone globally in the first quarter of 2025, marking the return of the base model of the iPhone series to the top of Counterpoint Research's global smartphone sales ranking after a two-year hiatus. According to the latest statistics from research firm Counterpoint Research, the base model of the iPhone 16 performed especially well in Japan, the Middle East, and Africa (MEA) markets, with Japan seeing the highest increase in sales of the base model iPhone, thanks to significant improvements in the local economy and adjustments to government subsidy policies. Apple Inc.'s more expensive flagship smartphone models, the iPhone 16 Pro Max and iPhone 16 Pro, ranked second and third on the list, while the iPhone 16e ranked sixth in the global top ten list for the month ending in March. Apart from the iPhone, Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S25 Ultra, launched in the first quarter, ranked seventh in sales. However, compared to the S24 Ultra, which ranked fifth in the first quarter of 2024, its ranking dropped slightly, possibly due to the shorter sales window for the S25 Ultra in this quarter. Smartphone Sales - iPhone 16 Leads in Global Smartphone Sales in Q1 (Counterpoint Research) Counterpoint stated in its research report, "Looking ahead, despite the continued global trade tensions resulting from the tariff policies of the Trump administration and ongoing uncertainties in broader market demand, the share of the top ten best-selling smartphones globally is expected to remain relatively stable. This resilience is due to global OEMs increasingly focusing on high-end AI smartphones, and consumers' interest in more advanced and high-end AI features is expected to further drive replacement demand." Counterpoint added that Xiaomi's Redmi 14C 4G was the only non-Apple Inc. and Samsung smartphone model to enter Counterpoint's global top ten list. AI - Expected to be the Core Drive of Apple Inc.'s Replacement Cycle in the Near Future The deep integration of AI into smartphones has vast prospects. Currently, Apple Inc.'s replacement drive still revolves around performance upgrades for existing users and subsidies driving some iPhone fans' replacement demands upfront. However, according to Wall Street investment firms such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America Corp, the updated iteration of Apple Intelligence (Apple Inc.'s AI capabilities) - integrated with the most advanced Siri AI voice assistant - is expected to drive a new wave of large-scale replacement cycles. Integrating AI big models with PCs, smartphones, and other consumer electronic terminals comprehensively, creating big models with increasingly powerful inference capabilities that can run offline on local devices, while also accessing vast cloud AI computing resources to adapt to users' deeper personal needs, has become the core content of the global tech companies' "AI planning blueprint." In Apple Inc.'s Siri updated iteration concept, with the support of cloud and terminal AI big models, the positioning of Apple Inc.'s Siri may no longer be a clumsy formalized voice assistant. By combining cloud AI computing resources and generative AI capabilities on the terminal side, Apple Inc.'s iPhone models are expected to realize a more personalized "private AI assistant" that meets users' individual needs, similar to the "all-powerful AI companion" in the movie HER. Apple Inc. has stated that the updated iteration of Siri voice assistant will be able to utilize users' personal information to answer questions and execute operations in various applications. A research report released by Canalys shows that the organization expects about 16% of global smartphones shipped in 2024 to be AI-powered smartphones. By 2028, this proportion is expected to grow exponentially to 54%. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the AI smartphone market size from 2023 to 2028 is estimated to be as high as 63%, mainly driven by strong demand for enhanced features such as AI assistants and edge AI automation from consumers. The Morgan Stanley AlphaWise survey report shows that the average American consumer is willing to pay $9.11 per month for unlimited use of Apple Intelligence, an increase of 11% from the survey data in September 2024. Additionally, the survey shows that close to 42% of respondents consider Apple Intelligence functionality extremely or very important for the next generation of iPhones, and this proportion reaches 54% among users who may replace their iPhone in the next 12 months. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. expects that by mid-year, the market's focus will shift from tariff policies to the new generation iOS system to be released before the end of the year and the more powerful "Apple Intelligence" features after the update iteration, as well as the iPhone 17 series set to be released in the fall of 2025. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. predicts that these factors will drive an increase in market optimism for Apple Inc.'s stock price and the entire "Apple chain".