Answering an analyst’s questions, Cook said that Apple has already acquired seven companies this year in deals that weren’t “huge in terms of dollar amount”, reports CNBC. However, he added that Apple is ready to spend much more money if that would help its AI efforts.
We’re very open to M&A that accelerates our roadmap. We’re not stuck on a certain size company. (…) we basically ask ourselves whether a company can help us accelerate a roadmap. If they do, then we are interested. But we don’t have anything to share specifically today.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, 31 July 2025
Historically, Apple doesn’t resort to big acquisitions. So far, the company’s biggest acquisition was the $3 billion Beats deal, which was closed in 2014. Cook’s comment confirms the running rumors that this might be changing as Apple feels pressured to improve its AI efforts.
At the end of June, Bloomberg reported that Apple might seek the help of one of the AI giants, like OpenAI and Anthropic, to improve its “LLM Siri.” Also in June, there was an information that Apple was considering to acquire the AI startup Perplexity AI.
Apple has been talking about its big plans for an AI-powered version of Siri for over a year, but its timing is still uncertain. The enhanced voice assistant was supposed to be released early this year, but Apple then delayed it, without giving a new launch date.
Meanwhile, Google’s Pixel 9 and the upcoming Pixel 10, and the Samsung Galaxy S25 offer a growing set of already functional AI features. Rubbing salt into the wound, Google and Apple are discussing bringing Gemini to the iPhone.
Despite the struggles with AI, Apple has kept growing and reported a spectacular quarter. The iPhone business grew 13% year-over-year, reaching $40.22 billion in revenue. Probably even more important, the Services unit also saw a 13% increase, taking in $27.4 billion, which is a record according to the company.
The financial results demonstrate Apple’s biggest strength – being a platform for cutting-edge technology, not making it. That’s why I believe a mix of partnerships and acquisitions of AI companies is the right move. I just hope Apple can move quickly enough and catch up to its competitors before it’s too late.
#Apple #ready #buy #hole #fallen
