Apple could earn more than $1 billion from AI apps while its revamped Siri stalls

Apple still has not released the major Siri update it promised, and has not brought the full Apple Intelligence package to a working state. That has not stopped the company from making money on the AI boom. By some estimates, Apple's revenue from AI-related apps and subscriptions could exceed $1 billion this year.

Money without Siri

At first glance, the situation looks paradoxical. Apple's main consumer AI product is still delayed, and reports about problems with the next generation of Siri appear in the press regularly. But Apple controls the platform through which iPhone and iPad users reach third-party AI services. Even if its own assistant lags behind, the ecosystem is already turning interest in generative AI into revenue, through subscriptions, in-app purchases and commissions on apps that quickly gain audiences.

This is where the strength of Apple's model shows: the company can lose an individual product round and still capture a noticeable share of the money circulating inside its storefront. If the estimate of more than $1 billion is confirmed, it will be an important signal for the market. It would mean AI is no longer just a story about future iPhone features for Apple, but a tangible business right now. And it is built on other companies' models, other companies' apps and other companies' launch speed, something Apple usually prefers to demonstrate itself.

Why Siri is slow

Apple's problem is that the market has started to judge it not by promises but by deadlines. Apple Intelligence was presented as the next big step for the company's devices, and the revamped Siri as a more useful, context-aware and personal assistant. But the longer the release slips, the stronger the sense that Apple is not keeping up with its competitors. For a brand that spent decades building its reputation on careful integration of hardware and software, such delays look especially painful.

The contrast is now uncomfortable. On one hand, Apple promotes the idea of a private, carefully designed AI experience. On the other, users see that the most visible consumer breakthroughs are happening in third-party apps, not inside Siri. That undermines the company's familiar narrative that it is the one setting the standard for user interfaces. While Siri stalls, the App Store is effectively becoming Apple's main window into generative AI.

What drives the growth

The mechanics of this revenue are fairly simple: users try AI apps en masse, sign up for subscriptions, pay for premium features and buy extra usage limits. Apple does not necessarily earn money from its own model, but from its role as intermediary and platform owner. In that sense, Siri's delay does not cancel the commercial effect of the broader AI frenzy. On the contrary, the more independent services compete for a spot on the iPhone home screen, the more visible the financial flow inside Apple's ecosystem becomes.

This benefits Apple on several fronts. The company gets a direct financial return, keeps users' attention inside its ecosystem and, at the same time, watches which AI use cases actually go mainstream. In effect, the App Store works both as a huge marketplace and as a testing ground for demand. That gives Apple data for future product decisions, even if its own voice assistant is not yet ready for a full relaunch.

• Commissions on subscriptions and in-app purchases in AI apps
• More time spent by users in the Apple ecosystem
• Fast testing of real demand for new AI use cases
• The ability to monetize the market even without a finished Siri

What it means

The Siri story shows that in the era of generative AI, a company can fall behind in one key product and still win as a platform owner. For Apple, this is a temporary safety net: it is already making money from the AI wave while it refines its own interface. But over the long run, commissions alone will not be enough. The market still needs an answer to when Siri will stop catching up and start setting the agenda again.