Apple's Q2 earnings call: Where's the AI talk?

Apple's (AAPL) fiscal second quarter earnings topped analyst expectations thanks to strong iPhone sales. But there was one thing noticeably missing from its earnings release... any mentions of AI. While Meta (META), Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT) and many other companies have been pushing their AI plans, it only came up on the Apple earnings call because someone asked about it. CEO Tim Cook described how Apple has integrated AI and machine learning into its products, adding that the "potential" of generative AI is "certainly very interesting" and that the company views AI as "huge."

Yahoo Finance's Brad Smith, Diane King Hall, and Dan Howley took note of the lack of AI chatter on the Apple Q2 "After the Call."

Key video moments:

00:00:15 Lack of AI conversation

00:00:40 What people on social media were saying

00:01:23 Why executives not talking about AI is "so Apple"

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BRAD SMITH: All right, let's bring in Yahoo Finance's Dan Howley, see what he heard on the call that stuck out to him. Dan, DH, our tech designated hitter as well. Dan, bring--

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, Brad.

BRAD SMITH: --it on home for us.

DAN HOWLEY: I got to say, the interesting thing is the lack of AI discussions. I think one person I was following on Twitter said that Apple's not playing the big tech bingo card game, where you have to throw AI into it. And last week, after hearing Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, all just gushing over AI, Apple only mentioned it once, and that was after they were asked a question.

So seeing a lot of that percolating on social media. Some people pooh-poohing on Apple, saying that the slowdown in North American sales not great, and that Apple's heyday is over. We hear that constantly, that Apple's heyday is over, and then they go out and beat expectations. So whether or not there's a new huge product coming, we don't know.

Maybe we'll see with WWDC coming up in June. Could be AR/VR glasses. Could be nothing. Maybe it's a car. I don't know. But so far, people are liking what they're seeing for the most part. And really, I got to give a shout out to that person who pointed out the AI bingo card action. Not a lot of talk about that for Apple.

BRAD SMITH: Dan, isn't that so Apple though? Apple right now, especially under Tim Cook, for years has always had this ethos of do we really need to be the first mover, or can we let the market move our ambitions for us as well? And what I mean by that is you won't see them be the first to put out a foldable phone.

They're going to see if the market responds to somebody else's folding phone, and then they're going to decide, OK, the market wants it. Let's do something even better. And so it sounds like they're going to stay true to themselves when it comes to generative AI as well or, at least, not put all their cards on the table right now.

DAN HOWLEY: Yeah, I mean, look.

DIANE KING HALL: No, they're--

DAN HOWLEY: Google just showed off their folding phone. I don't see Apple doing it.

DIANE KING HALL: No, they don't need to.

BRAD SMITH: No, not at all.

DIANE KING HALL: They have their crown jewel. The iPhone is back, and that's all they need, honestly.