Apple News
Apple’s record 247 million iPhone shipments drive 6.1% global smartphone surge in 2025 – IDC
Worldwide smartphone shipments are forecast to grow 1.5% year-on-year (YoY) in 2025 to 1.25 billion units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. This is an increase from 1% growth in prior forecast, primarily driven by accelerated performance from Apple in the holiday quarter, rapid growth in key emerging markets and stabilization in China. Apple’s shipments are forecast to grow 6.1% YoY in 2025, up sharply from 3.9% in the last cycle.
“Apple is set to have a record year in 2025 with shipments forecast to cross 247 million units, thanks to the phenomenal success of its latest iPhone 17 series,” said Nabila Popal, senior research director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, in a statement. “In China, Apple’s largest market, massive demand for iPhone 17 has significantly accelerated Apple’s performance. It ranked first in October and November per IDC’s China Monthly Sales data with more than 20% share, miles ahead of the competition, leading IDC to revise Apple’s Q4 forecast in China from 9% to 17% YoY. This turns a previously projected 1% decline in China for 2025 into a positive 3% growth, that’s a phenomenal turnaround. The success story is replicated across all regions, including the US and Western Europe that had previously slowed down. This calendar year will not only be a record period for Apple in terms of shipments but also in value, which is forecast to exceed $261 billion, with 7.2% YoY growth in 2025.”
While the near-term forecast for smartphones has strengthened, 2026 growth has been revised downward from 1.2% growth to 0.9% decline, due to a combination of component shortages and product cycle adjustments. Apple’s strategic shift of its next base iPhone model from fall 2026 to early 2027 is forecast to pull-down iOS shipments by 4.2% next year. Furthermore, the ongoing global memory shortage is expected to constrain supply and raise prices, which will impact low-to-mid range Android devices more significantly as they remain more price sensitive. As a result, smartphone units will face a soft decline in 2026, however ASP will increase to $465, propelling the market to its record high value of $578.9 billion.
“As memory components become more limited and more expensive, manufacturers face increasing pressure to raise prices,” said Anthony Scarsella, research director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, in a staement. “Vendors need to adopt different strategies to protect their market share. While some OEMs will inevitably be forced to raise prices, others will adjust their portfolio towards pricier models with higher margins to absorb some of the memory impact on BOM. Next year will be a challenging time for the industry, however, IDC still believes the market could see record ASPs.”
MacDailyNews Take: iPhone 17 continues to outperform. By the way, market share is one thing, but Apple’s iPhone commands the vast majority of profits in the global smartphone market, capturing approximately 80% of the industry’s total operating profits as of early 2025.
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Apple’s hiring of Amar Subramanya likely to help improve AI strategy – Wedbush
Apple’s hiring of AI expert Amar Subramanya arrives at an ideal moment for the tech behemoth, as it ramps up efforts to bolster its artificial intelligence prowess ahead of 2026, according to Wedbush Securities’ analysis on Tuesday.
The firm announced Monday evening that John Giannandrea, its senior vice president of machine learning and AI strategy, is departing the role, with Subramanya stepping in as vice president of AI. Giannandrea will transition to an advisory position through his planned 2026 departure.
Overseeing Apple’s foundational models, machine learning initiatives, and AI safety protocols, Subramanya joins from a brief stint at Microsoft, where he was corporate vice president of AI. Prior to that, he logged 16 years at Google under Alphabet, culminating as engineering lead for the Gemini AI assistant.
MT Newswires:
“We believe that Subramanya represents the right hire at the right time with the clock ticking on Apple’s AI strategy heading into next year, with outside hires a necessary move to improve the AI strategy,” Wedbush analysts, including Dan Ives, said in a note to clients Tuesday.
“We believe no ‘AI premium’ is factored into Apple’s stock at current prices which makes this a compelling large-cap tech name to own into year-end and 2026,” Wedbush said. “We believe the AI monetization piece could add $75 to $100 per share to the Apple story over the coming few years.”
“Importantly, we believe Google Gemini will be the exclusive partner for Apple on the AI front,” the analysts said. “The timing of this AI leadership announcement (at Apple) is smart and lays the seeds for the future AI strategy.”
MacDailyNews Note: Wedbush reiterated its “Outperform” (Buy) rating on Apple stock with a $320 price target.
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[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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Michael and Susan Dell to donate $6.25 billion to fund ‘Trump Accounts’ for millions of American children
Michael Dell and his wife Susan have committed $6.25 billion to fund investment accounts for millions of American children. The huge investment will seed tax-advantaged “Trump Accounts” (Section 530A accounts) for kids who are too old to qualify for grants that are set to come from the U.S. Treasury. The “Trump Accounts” are part of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” and are set to launch in 2026.
“It’s designed to help families feel supported from the start and encourage them to keep saving as their children grow,” Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, told CNBC in an interview. “We know that when children have accounts like this, they’re much more likely to graduate from high school, from college, buy a home, start a business and less likely to be incarcerated.”
Under the new law, “Trump Accounts” are available to any American child under 18 with a Social Security number and their families can fund the accounts, which must be invested in an index fund that tracks the overall stock market. When the children turn 18, they can withdraw the funds to put toward their education, to buy a home or to start a business.
“These investment accounts are simple, secure, and structured to grow in value through market returns over time,” the Dell family said in a statement.
The Treasury Department is set to fund $1,000 for every “Trump Account” for all US citizen children born between January 2025 and January 2029.
The Dells’ charitable gift will go toward children ages 10 and under who were born before the cut-off for the Treasury’s funding. The Dells’ donation will fund $250 deposits for investment accounts for at least 25 million children.
“If there’s one investment that never stops growing, it’s investing in children. They are our future,” the Dells said in a statement. “From our years of experience in supporting education, health and financial stability programs, we know that this program will give young Americans more than a savings account. It will give them momentum. It will give them confidence and opportunity.”
The Dells have donated $2.9 billion to date, according to the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, making this $6.25 billion pledge more than double the entirety of their previous giving.
Michael Dell, chief executive at Dell Technologies, is the world’s 11th richest individual with a net worth of $148 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act permits “Trump Accounts” to be established for American children who have not reached age 18.
• An American child born after December 31, 2024 and before January 1, 2029 for whom a Trump Account is established will receive an initial $1,000 deposit from the U.S. government, with the potential for parents to contribute up to an additional $5,000 per year initially.
— Employers may make an annual contribution of up to $2,500 to a Trump Account and that contribution will not impact the employee’s taxable income.
• CEA estimates that, under a scenario of average returns on the U.S. stock market, Trump Account balance for a baby born in 2026 will be:
— $303,800 by age 18 and $1,091,900 by age 28 if maximum contributions are made.
— $5,800 by age 18 and $18,100 by age 28 if no contributions are made.
NBC News:
“Trump Accounts represent a potentially valuable tool for building up savings and tapping the power of compound growth for the young,” Charles Schwab tax planning director Hayden Adams recently wrote.
If a family could contribute and invest the maximum $5,000 per year in the accounts, and with a reasonable growth rate of about 6%, “by age 18, the child’s account would hold around $191,000 in assets.”
Once a child turns 18, the accounts are eligible to be converted to a traditional individual retirement account, “meaning it could continue to accumulate potential gains on a tax-free basis” for many years.
MacDailyNews Take: We laud Michael and Susan Dell for this investment in America’s future! This is money very well-invested (unlike Social Security) and it will pay untold dividends for millions of Americans. We hope other billionaire philanthropists – cough, Laurene Powell Jobs, cough – follow the Dell’s lead and invest in boosting Section 530A accounts for American children!
Social Security is a government-run retirement program funded by mandatory payroll taxes taken from Americans’ earnings. These mandated contributions are invested very inefficiently compared to what individuals could achieve on their own in private markets. If workers could instead invest that same money in a diversified stock-and-bond portfolio over a typical 40-year career, historical data suggest they would end up with substantially more wealth in retirement than the benefits Social Security currently provides for most people.
The U.S. stock market (S&P 500) has delivered roughly 7% real annual returns over the very long term (1926–present), and a balanced 60/40 stock/bond portfolio has averaged about 5–6%.
Studies that calculate the implied “rate of return” retirees get from Social Security (comparing lifetime contributions vs. lifetime benefits) show:
• For single men retiring today: ~1–2% real return
• For single women (longer life expectancy): slightly higher, ~2–3%
• For high earners (hit the wage cap most years): often negative or near zero
• For very low earners or certain family structures (e.g., one-earner couples): higher, sometimes 4–5%+ because of the progressive benefit formula and spousal/survivor benefits
Take a median-earning worker born in 1980, paying the full 12.4% payroll tax over 45 years: Total contributions (worker + employer share) ≈ $800,000–$1 million via Social Security in today’s dollars by retirement.
If the same $800,000–$1 million had instead been invested privately at a conservative 5% real return (60/40 portfolio), it would grow to ~$4–6 million by age 67, enough to buy a much higher inflation-protected annuity than Social Security provides.
Again, we laud Michael and Susan Dell for this investment in America’s future and hope other philanthropists follow the Dell’s lead and invest in boosting Section 530A accounts for American children!
Find out more about “Trump Accounts” here.
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Apple tops Warren Buffett’s biggest stock holdings; accounts for 21.2% of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio
For the third quarter, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway reported 46 holdings, but its portfolio is quite top heavy with 238,212,764 shares of Apple accounting for 21.2% of Berkshire’s portfolio.
Berkshire Hathaway’s top five largest holdings:
- Apple: 238,212,764 shares, 21.2% of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio
- American Express: 151,610,700 shares, 17.7%
- Bank of America: 568,070,012 shares, 9.7%
- Coca-Cola: 400,000,000 shares, 9.4%
- Chevron: 122,064,792, 5.9%
Stefon Walters for The Motley Fool:
This isn’t exactly a model for diversification with five stocks accounting for nearly 64% of the portfolio. However, this strategy works for Berkshire Hathaway because it has dedicated teams of professional investors committed to managing the company’s holdings and their risk. This is nothing like the situation an individual investor faces, which is why Buffett has long said the best investment the average investor can make is an S&P 500 index fund.
That said, all five of the above companies are well-established blue-chip stocks. They will inevitably hit rough spots (as is the case for any company), but you can count on them being industry leaders for quite some time. While I wouldn’t suggest anyone blindly follow Buffett into these stocks, I would feel comfortable holding all five names in my own portfolio.
MacDailyNews Take: Berkshire Hathaway, under Warren Buffett’s leadership, continued trimming its massive Apple stake throughout 2025, reducing it from 300 million shares at the end of 2024 to 238.2 million shares by the end of Q3 (September 30, 2025). This represents sales of approximately 61.8 million shares across the year, with major reductions in Q2 (20 million shares) and Q3 (41.8 million shares). No further sales were disclosed in Q4 earnings as of December 1, 2025, so the full-year figure stands at those 61.8 million shares sold.
Assuming sales were spread across quarters at average prices during each sale period (based on reported data and historical averages):
• Q2 sales (20 million shares): Average price ~$228.50 → Proceeds: ~$4.57 billion.
Current value (at $277): ~$5.54 billion. Opportunity cost: ~$970 million.
• Q3 sales (41.8 million shares): Average price ~$225 → Proceeds: ~$9.405 billion.
Current value (at $277): ~$11.58 billion. Opportunity cost: ~$2.175 billion.
Total Buffett left on the table by selling Apple shares this year: ~$3.145 billion (or ~$3.1–3.2 billion, excluding dividends on unsold shares, which Berkshire would have received anyway). This is conservative; if sales occurred earlier in each quarter at lower prices (e.g., Q3 lows near $202), the figure could exceed $4 billion.
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Apple TV debuts trailer for holiday special ‘The First Snow of Fraggle Rock’
Apple TV on Monday debuted the trailer for the all-new holiday special “The First Snow of Fraggle Rock,” set to premiere globally on Friday, December 5th. The special features a cameo appearance by musical artist and internet sensation Lele Pons that includes a duet of the classic, beloved “Fraggle Rock” song “Our Melody” with Gobo, along with two other holiday numbers.
The Fraggles eagerly await the first snow of the season and all the traditions it brings, but when only a single snowflake arrives and Gobo can’t write the yearly holiday song everyone is expecting, the season is thrown off course. For the first time ever, Gobo journeys to the human world — or, as the Fraggles refer to it: Outer Space — to find some unexpected musical inspiration. And in another first, back at the Gorgs’ castle, Junior is overwhelmed by the arrival of a new baby Gorg joining the family. This holiday season, the Fraggles and Gorgs learn that beautiful moments aren’t always perfect — but they can be as unique and memorable as snowflakes.
From the team behind the Emmy Award-winning series “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” The Jim Henson Company’s “The First Snow of Fraggle Rock” is executive produced by Lisa Henson, Halle Stanford, John Tartaglia, Matt Fusfeld, Alex Cuthbertson, Arnon Milchan and Yariv Milchan. Dave Goelz and Karen Prell co-executive produce. Harvey Mason Jr. serves as the executive music producer. The special is written by Fusfeld and Cuthbertson, produced by Chris Plourde, co-produced by Tim O’Brien and directed by Jon Rosenbaum.
The exciting slate of recent offerings for kids and families on Apple TV features the latest family musical specials “Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical” and “Lulu Is a Rhinoceros,” based on the beloved children’s book of the same name by father-daughter duo Jason and Allison Flom; the music-driven animated comedy series “BE@RBRICK” from DreamWorks Animation; “Goldie,” inspired by Emily Brundige’s award-winning 2019 short film of the same name; Peanuts series “Camp Snoopy”; the second season of beloved animated series “Frog and Toad,” based on the Caldecott and Newbery Honor-winning books; “Me,” an elevated cinematic coming-of-age story from Barry L. Levy; and “Wonder Pets: In the City” from Jennifer Oxley.
Award-winning all-ages offerings now streaming globally on Apple TV also include the BAFTA Award and Emmy Award-winning live-action animated hybrid special “The Velveteen Rabbit,” BAFTA Award and Humanitas Prize-winning “El Deafo,” BAFTA Award-winning “Lovely Little Farm,” “Duck & Goose,” “Get Rolling With Otis,” Spin Master Entertainment’s “Sago Mini Friends,” GLAAD Media Award-nominated “Pinecone & Pony,” The Jim Henson Company’s Emmy Award-winning “Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock,” “Harriet the Spy” and “Slumberkins,” Sesame Workshop’s “Helpsters,” Joseph Gordon-Levitt, HITRECORD and Bento Box Entertainment’s “Wolfboy and the Everything Factory,” Jack McBrayer and Angela C. Santomero’s Emmy Award-nominated “Hello, Jack! The Kindness Show,” Peanuts and WildBrain’s Emmy Award-nominated “Snoopy in Space,” “The Snoopy Show,” and Peabody and Emmy Award-winning series “Stillwater” from Gaumont and Scholastic Entertainment. Live-action offerings include Bonnie Hunt’s DGA and WGA Award-nominated “Amber Brown,” DGA Award-winning “Best Foot Forward,” “Surfside Girls,” WGA Award-winning “Life By Ella,” Sesame Workshop and Sinking Ship’s Emmy Award-winning “Ghostwriter,” Emmy Award and Environmental Media Association Award-winning “Jane,” and Scholastic’s “Puppy Place.”
Also featured are “Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth,” the Emmy Award-winning television event based on the New York Times bestselling book and TIME Best Book of the Year by Oliver Jeffers, and specials from Peanuts and WildBrain including Emmy Award-nominated “Snoopy Presents: It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown,” “Snoopy Presents: Lucy’s School,” Humanitas Prize and Emmy Award-nominated “Snoopy Presents: To Mom (and Dad), With Love,” “Snoopy Presents: One-of-a-Kind Marcie,” “Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin,” Emmy Award-winning “Snoopy Presents: Who Are You, Charlie Brown?” and “Snoopy Presents: For Auld Lang Syne.”
MacDailyNews Take: Apple TV is available on the Apple TV app in over 100 countries and regions, on over 1 billion screens, including iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K, Apple Vision Pro, Mac, popular smart TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, VIZIO, TCL and others, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices, Chromecast with Google TV, PlayStation and Xbox gaming consoles, and at tv.apple.com, for $12.99 per month with a seven-day free trial for new subscribers. For a limited time, customers who purchase and activate a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV or Mac can enjoy three months of Apple TV for free.
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