On August 8th, Caixin reported that since Apple's AI product, Apple Intelligence, appeared in June this year, this heavyweight product has been constantly stirring the hearts of a wide range of Apple enthusiasts.

Recently, Counterpoint's Apple analyst said that Apple may charge up to $20 per month for Apple Intelligence's advanced AI features. $AAPL.US$

Apple may charge for some functions of Apple Intelligence.

In June of this year, Apple unveiled the mysterious Apple Intelligence system and plans to launch this product on some of its devices later this year. According to the introduction at the time, this AI system will include an enhanced Siri assistant and functions such as automatically generating emails and images.

Despite the high expectations of many Apple enthusiasts, analysts predict that the launch of these features will be slow and may not be initially available in some regions such as China and Europe.

Currently, Apple may already be considering a pricing plan for Apple Intelligence.

Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research, said that investment in AI is expensive, and Apple would like to pass this cost on to users.

Currently, Apple's Apple One service package (including Apple Music, Apple TV Plus, Apple Arcade, Apple News Plus, and iCloud, etc.) costs $19.95 per month. Shah said that Apple may charge $10 to $20 for more advanced features of Apple Intelligence and integrate them into the Apple One service package.

Apple's advantage: users are willing to pay.

Compared to other hardware companies, Apple has a unique advantage: its users are more willing to pay for its software services.

In the second quarter of this year, Apple's service sector revenue was $24.2 billion. In contrast, many other hardware companies have difficulty making profits in software and services.

"Apple is one of the few Internet of Things (IoT) device companies that has successfully monetized its value-added services, so it has set a precedent for customers that they must pay for higher-level services. On this basis, it cannot be ruled out that Apple may choose to charge for higher-level features of Apple Intelligence," said Ben Wood, director of CCS Insight Research.

In fact, it is not uncommon for technology companies to charge for their AI products. For example, OpenAI charges a subscription fee for its more advanced ChatGPT feature, and Microsoft charges for its AI Copilot tool.

Samsung, Apple's biggest competitor, has begun to launch an AI service called Galaxy AI. The company's mobile business director revealed last month that Samsung is still considering the revenue model for its software.

Shaah also mentioned that AI system will enable Apple to further lock in its already loyal user base, as Apple Intelligence can learn from users' behavior and become more personalized, making Apple users more and more inseparable.

Shaah said, "The beauty of AI is that as you use it more and more, it will understand you, and you will be more tied to the Apple phone because you can't take your AI model from Apple to Android... as you start using it more and more, you will become more accustomed to it, and Apple will be able to profit from it."

Editor / jayden