It is no secret that Apple (AAPL) recently hit a rough patch as many consumers across the country are dodging iPhone upgrades while they battle inflation and higher costs of living.
A new iPhone can cost as much as $1,100 or more, and according to a recent survey from WalletHub, 63% of Americans said that they will not be buying a new phone due to inflation.
This trend appears to have had an impact on Apple’s recent sales, despite releasing the iPhone 16 last year. In the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report for 2024, it revealed that while its Mac and iPad sales revenue increased during the holiday season, its iPhone revenue dipped by almost 1% year-over-year.
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Sales revenue from Apple’s wearables, home and accessories, which includes AirPods, also declined by 1.7%.
As Apple struggles to attract customers, it is planning to give its devices a dramatic upgrade through its upcoming iOS 19 update, which is expected to be released later this year.
While the update will reportedly simplify navigation on Apple devices by updating the style of icons, apps, menus, windows, and system buttons, it will also grant Apple’s AirPods a futuristic new feature.
AirPods may soon get a major upgrade
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple is quietly planning to roll out a feature that allows AirPods to live-translate an in-person conversation into another language.
For example, if a users’ iPhone picks up an in-person conversation that is being spoken in Spanish, it can translate it and relay the speech to the user’s AirPods in English.
Also, if the user responds in English, the AirPods will translate their words and play it back on the iPhone in Spanish.
The new AirPods feature would pose a major threat to its rival Google Pixel Buds, which already has the ability to live-translate in-person conversations.
The move from Apple comes after it introduced hearing health features to its AirPods Pro 2 last year, which includes a hearing test, hearing aid feature and active hearing protection.
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“The number of emails I’m already getting from customers that have taken the hearing test and are using their AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid [is] just staggering and heartwarming to read,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook during an earnings call in October.
Apple also released two AirPods 4 models and new AirPods Max colors in September last year. The company is also reportedly developing an AirPods model that contains built-in cameras that use artificial intelligence to collect information on its surrounding environment.
Apple’s sales face a major threat
While Apple is rapidly developing new features and products to attract more customers, its sales face a major threat this year.
On March 4, President Donald Trump increased his previous 10% tariff on all goods imported from China to 20%. Tariffs are taxes companies pay to import goods from overseas, and the extra cost is often passed down to consumers in the form of price increases.
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Apple sources a lot of its products, especially iPhones, in China, and tariffs could cause these products to increase in price.
During an earnings call in January, Cook said that the company is “monitoring the situation,” regarding how these tariffs could impact consumer demand for Apple products.
Last month, Apple did, however, announce that it will invest $500 billion on expanding U.S. manufacturing facilities and AI data centers over the next four years, which could help it dodge Trump’s tariffs. Apple said that this new investment will create 20,000 jobs.
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