Amazon and Apple beat earnings forecasts as they polish AI skills

San Francisco, Aug 4 (AFP/APP): Amazon and Apple on Thursday reported earnings that topped market expectations, aiming for even better days ahead with the help of artificial intelligence (AI).

“Inside Amazon, every one of our teams is working on building generative AI applications that reinvent and enhance their customers’ experience,” chief executive Andy Jassy said during an earnings call.

Apple views AI and machine learning as “core fundamental technologies that are integral to virtually every product that we build,” company boss Tim Cook told analysts while discussing the iPhone maker’s quarterly earnings.
“It’s absolutely critical to us,” Cook said of AI.

He cited crash detection and other iPhone features as technologies that “wouldn’t be possible without AI and machine learning.” Crash detection presents a user with a prompt for an emergency call if a handset senses a collision.

“We’ve been doing research across a wide range of AI technologies, including generative AI for years,” Cook said.
“We’re going to continue investing and innovating and responsibly advancing our products with these technologies.”

Apple reported modestly higher profits in the recently ended quarter despite another dip in revenues, as a record performance in services offset lower iPhone sales.

Executives spotlighted increased sales in China and several key emerging markets that helped to compensate for declines in the United States where the iPhone sales have ebbed in a saturated smartphone environment.

Profits for Apple’s third fiscal quarter were $19.9 billion, up 2.3 percent from the year-ago period. Revenues again declined, this time by 1.4 percent to $81.8 billion, the third straight quarter with a year-over-year decline.

Bright spots for the tech giant included an “all-time high” in services revenue, comprised of the App store, Apple pay and Apple TV and other subscription services.