iPhones may cost more, AI Siri is non-existent, tariffs loom – yet Apple's revenue is holding up

Phone Arena

2 days ago

2025 is not the best of years for many companies – we're living in what ancient Chinese wise men would call "interesting times" – and Apple is not an exception. Be it as it may, the third-largest American company by market capitalization (at the moment) might post a higher revenue for the April-June quarter.Apple heads into its latest earnings report facing a more complicated global landscape than usual. While revenue is expected to rise slightly for the aforementioned period, the bigger story is how Apple is managing new pressures – from tariffs and political tensions to rising competition and the ongoing AI race.
The company's once-reliable global supply chain is now a potential weak spot, especially with US-China trade issues putting iPhones in the middle of the dispute. Future tariffs might easily translate to costlier iPhones.
To reduce risk, Apple has moved more iPhone production to India, a shift that's already causing noticeable changes in the smartphone manufacturing world, Reuters observes.
– Gil Luria, D.A. Davidson analyst, July 2025 At the same time, Apple is walking a tightrope in China. iPhone sales have reportedly picked up there recently, boosted by discounts and trade-in offers, but local brands are gaining ground – especially those pushing new AI features. Think of Huawei, Vivo, Honor, Xiaomi. The list is long and full of strong, fit competitors.
Apple's slower rollout of its own AI tools, like the Apple Intelligence suite and the Siri upgrade, has raised eyebrows among analysts who worry the company might be lagging in AI.
Image by Apple Apple's long-anticipated Siri upgrades – touted as a major step into the AI era – have been delayed, pushing key features to 2026 at the earliest. These improvements were supposed to give Siri much-needed context awareness in 2025 (such as being able to read emails, messages, and other app data), but that hasn't happened so far.Another planned upgrade would have allowed Siri to understand what's on the iPhone's screen and respond accordingly, making it more useful in everyday situations. The delay has caused frustration inside Apple, with Siri lead Robby Walker reportedly calling the situation "embarrassing". The company had already promoted the new capabilities in an ad for "Personal Siri", only to pull it once it became clear the feature wouldn't be ready in time. While Apple still plans to release the updates, the premature marketing and indefinite timeline have drawn comparisons to past missteps like the canceled AirPower charger, raising questions about how far behind Siri really is in the current AI race.
Nobody quite knows which way tariffs would go and which countries would be hit in the next months, so don't be alarmed if the iPhone 17 is a bit pricier come September.