What were Apple's record iPhone sales for the recent quarter?

Apple achieved $85.3 billion in iPhone sales during the recent quarter, a 23% year-over-year increase.

How is Apple addressing AI delays with Siri?

Apple is collaborating with Google to enhance Siri's capabilities, using Google's Gemini 3 AI model.

What challenges is Apple facing in its growth?

Apple is facing rising memory chip costs and supply chain issues that could impact future growth.

TECHNOLOGY

Apple Hits Record iPhone Sales Amid AI Hurdles, Teams Up with Google to Enhance Siri

Apple achieved a record $85.3 billion in iPhone sales, marking a 23% year-over-year increase, despite delays in AI features for Siri. The strong performance led to a 16% profit boost, but rising memory chip costs and supply chain issues could impact future growth. Apple predicts a 13% sales increase for the next quarter, signaling continued momentum in the smartphone market.

BY CASEY NOLAN

JANUARY 30, 2026

Apple Hits Record iPhone Sales Amid AI Hurdles, Teams Up with Google to Enhance Siri

In the most recent quarter, Apple sold more iPhones than ever before, even though the tech giant was having some problems with artificial intelligence (AI). Apple sold an amazing $85.3 billion worth of iPhones during the holiday season, a 23% increase over the same time last year. This was the best quarter for iPhone sales since the device came out in 2007.

Apple had a hard time reaching its ambitious goal of adding AI-powered features to Siri, its voice assistant, even though it was successful. The company said it would make Siri smarter by 2024, but those improvements are still being worked on. Instead, Apple tried to make up for this flaw by releasing a new "liquid glass" design for the iPhone 17 and a free software update for older models, both of which were well received by customers.

Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said, "The demand for the iPhone was just unbelievable." He praised the iPhone for being able to stay a central part of the company's ecosystem. Cook also said he was sure that the iPhone would become an important platform for AI, which would make it even more important to Apple's future plans.

Apple made a profit of $42.1 billion, or $2.84 per share, which is a 16% increase from the year before. The total revenue for the quarter was $143.8 billion, which is also a 16% increase. Wall Street didn't expect these results to be this good, so Apple's stock went up by 1% after the earnings report. Apple's stock, on the other hand, has stayed pretty flat in early 2026, following a trend of small losses that started at the end of 2024.

Apple Hits Record iPhone Sales Amid AI Hurdles, Teams Up with Google to Enhance Siri second image

Ethan Feller from Zacks Investment Research and other analysts say that worries about Apple's delayed AI rollout may have been too strong. Feller said, "Apple is in a good position to deliver AI features that scale naturally across its ecosystem." He pointed out that billions of people around the world already use Apple's products, such as iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches. Apple now has more than 2.5 billion devices running its operating systems, which is a lot.

Apple is getting ready to release an upgrade to Siri that people have been waiting for. The goal is to make the voice assistant more conversational and responsive. Apple is using Google's cutting-edge AI technology, the Gemini 3 model, to speed up this process. This partnership with a tech competitor shows that Apple had trouble with AI at first. AI has been one of the biggest game changers in the tech world since the iPhone came out.

The iPhone was still the best-selling smartphone in the world in 2025, with a market share of almost 20%, according to the research firm IDC. It was just ahead of Samsung. Apple is hopeful that growth will continue in the future. The company expects its sales to go up by 13% from January to March, which is more than analysts had expected (around 10%).

But there is a challenge on the horizon that could make it hard for Apple to keep this up. The company is having trouble getting enough memory chips, which are needed for both smartphones and the data centers that run AI technologies. The high demand for these chips, which is caused by the rapid growth of AI, is driving up prices and could cut into Apple's profits.

During the earnings call, Cook said, "We continue to see market prices for memory go up a lot." Apple may have to raise the prices of its devices, like the iPhone, to keep its profit margins, along with rising production costs.

Final Thoughts

Even with these problems, it's clear that Apple is tough. The company is likely to stay a leader in the tech world for years to come because it has a loyal customer base, a growing product ecosystem, and a strategy that looks to the future and includes AI and machine learning. It will be important for its continued success in a market that is becoming more competitive to see if it can get past its AI problems and deal with supply chain issues.