Apple projected for strongest iPhone sales growth in 4 years

Apple is projected to report its strongest iPhone sales growth in four years during its upcoming fiscal quarter, driven by demand for its premium Pro models.

The company is also integrating AI features developed with Google’s technology, using Gemini for a revamped Siri and other AI functions.

Analysts expect iPhone sales to rise about 13.8% in the December quarter, with total revenue reaching around US$138.4 billion, an 11.4% increase.

Apple maintained its leading position in the global smartphone market with a 20% share in 2025.

Despite growth, Apple may face increased costs from a global memory chip shortage, which could impact margins.

Its services segment, including the App Store, may encounter regulatory challenges in Europe.

The company’s supply chain resilience is noted, with strategies to mitigate chip shortages amid a broader industry slowdown in consumer electronics.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

What Apple’s Gemini partnership reveals and what it still leaves unclear

Google’s Gemini is being used for an updated Siri and other Apple Intelligence features, which is being praised as a way to cut AI build costs, yet the deal’s money terms and competitive setup are still unclear to investors.
The revenue split has not been shared, though Google’s default search deal with Apple has been reported at about $20 billion a year 1.
It remains to be confirmed whether the deal is being treated as non-exclusive in practice, such as whether other AI model providers will be allowed to power the same on-device and cloud-backed Apple Intelligence features with similar visibility.
In earlier agreements, default placement has tended to stick even without formal exclusivity, so a distribution edge could be handed to Google across Apple’s installed base of more than 2 billion devices, which could limit competition in consumer AI 2.

EU DMA changes widen distribution and payment paths while Apple fees still apply

For services operators and investors, European regulatory scrutiny of Apple’s services business, including the App Store, can reshape how European app makers ship software and take payments.
Under the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), app developers can distribute apps through alternative app marketplaces or directly from an authorized developer’s website, which is called Web Distribution, in the EU 3.
Developers can also promote offers that steer users to buy digital goods or services outside Apple’s In-App Purchase system, if they accept the relevant EU terms or addendum and use required entitlements and application programming interfaces (APIs) 4.
Those EU terms lower commissions in some cases, while also adding the Core Technology Fee, which generally applies to apps that pass 1 million first annual installs per year in the EU for developers using the alternative terms 5.