00:00 Josh
Talk about Apple. It’s another name I know you like. What did you make of the new CEO there, Will? John Turnis is coming in. Um, what did you make of the timing of this change?
00:22 Will
Yeah, Josh, that’s a good, that’s a good question. Look, I, you know, I I think they wanted to get it out in front of earnings so they could focus on earnings. And I think the expectation is they felt really good about the current earnings print. I mean, our own sense is that the iPhone numbers, you know, continue to be, you know, very strong. And just as a couple of data points, you know, if you look at AT&T’s numbers last week or even Verizon this morning, they both um spoke to continuing upticks and upgrade rates um for smartphones. So that that’s at least a directionally positive indicator for Apple into the print. So I think just the opportunity to focus on earnings, you know, I think is important. And look, I you know, our sense is he’s going to be a strong fit. Obviously, he’s a long long timer um at Apple and you know, part of the secret sauce is you know Josh at at Apple is the tight integration of hardware, you know, services, um and software. I think having that hardware uh background, you know, continues to position them well.
01:05 Josh
What about what Apple’s kind of AI strategy? You know, you do tell your clients here, Siri AI capabilities have been uh disappointing. What what needs to change there, Will?
01:21 Will
Yeah, well, this is going to be a, you know, a central pillar of the stories who move, you know, through the back half of this year and into next year is their execution on the AI strategy. Look, we like the opportunity to partner with Google Gemini. You know, Gemini’s, you know, proven to be one of the stronger, you know, AI capabilities, you know, in the market. That seems like an appropriate stepping stone, particularly given the historical relationship, you know, they’ve they’ve had with Google. Uh, look, we expect to learn more at WWDC, uh their developer conference, um in early June. But without question, that’s going to be a key focus for investors. But but the good news for them is this is a company at scale that despite not having, you know, a significant AI story today is still growing mid-teens and and against what’s still pretty mixed to negative sentiment. So, you know, we look at AI as kind of option value in some respects, you know, for Apple as you look forward here.
02:18 Josh
What about a foldable iPhone, Will? You want to bet that’s coming in the fall?
02:26 Will
Certainly seems like it. It’ll be disappointing if it doesn’t. And and I think look for Apple, it’s just an opportunity to demonstrate, you know, some renewed innovation uh on the iPhone front and I and I think, you know, that will be helpful to not only drive store traffic, but potentially to benefit, you know, the average selling price, you know, per device. So I I think a robust lineup up in September sets the stock up well. And this is typically a stock that, you know, you want to own in those summer months, uh, you know, in front of that. You know, we’ve got a couple months here, you know, where the stock, you know, historically maybe doesn’t act quite as well, but on the other hand, you’ve got WWDC just two months off that I think investors are going to be pretty focused on.
03:17 Josh
Well, as always, great to have you on the show. Thank you, sir.
03:22 Will
Thanks, Josh.
