Apple could make more than $1 billion from AI apps while its updated Siri stalls

Apple has still not released the promised major Siri update and has not completed the entire Apple Intelligence package, but this does not prevent the company from already profiting from the AI boom. According to estimates, Apple's revenues from AI-related apps and subscriptions this year could exceed $1 billion.

Money Without Siri

At first glance, the situation looks paradoxical. Apple's main consumer AI product is still delayed, and discussions about problems with the new generation of Siri appear in the press regularly. But Apple controls the platform through which iPhone and iPad users access third-party AI services.

Even if its own assistant lags behind, the ecosystem itself already turns interest in generative AI into revenue — through subscriptions, in-app purchases and commissions from apps that are quickly gaining audience. This is exactly where Apple's model's strength lies: the company can lose an individual product round, but still take a significant share of the money circulating within its storefront. If the estimate of over $1 billion is confirmed, this will be an important signal for the market.

It means that AI for Apple is no longer just a story about future features in iPhone, but a tangible business here and now. And through other companies' models, other companies' apps and other companies' launch speed, which Apple usually prefers to demonstrate itself.

Why Siri Is Stalling

The problem for Apple is that the market has begun to judge it not by promises, but by timelines. Apple Intelligence was presented as the next big step for the company's devices, and the updated Siri — as a more useful, contextual and personal assistant. But the longer the release is delayed, the stronger the feeling that Apple is not keeping up with the pace of competitors.

For a brand that has spent decades building a reputation for careful integration of hardware and software, such delays look especially painful. Now there is an awkward contrast. On one hand, Apple promotes the idea of a private and carefully thought-out AI experience.

On the other — users see that the most notable consumer breakthroughs are happening in third-party developer apps, not within Siri. This undermines the company's usual narrative that it sets the standard for user interface. While Siri stalls, the App Store effectively becomes Apple's main window into generative AI.

What Drives Growth

If you look at the mechanics of such revenue, the logic is quite simple: users are massively trying AI apps, signing up for subscriptions, paying for premium features and buying additional limits. Apple earns not necessarily on its own model, but on the role of intermediary and platform owner. In this sense, Siri's delay does not cancel the commercial effect of the general AI frenzy.

On the contrary, the more independent services compete for a spot on the iPhone home screen, the more visible the financial flow within the Apple ecosystem becomes. For Apple this is profitable in several ways at once. The company gets direct financial returns, keeps user attention within its own ecosystem, and simultaneously observes which AI use cases are truly becoming mainstream.

In essence, the App Store works as both a massive marketplace and a testing ground for demand. And this gives Apple data for future product decisions, even if its own voice assistant is not yet ready for a full relaunch.

• Commission from subscriptions and in-app purchases in AI apps
• Growth in time users spend in the Apple ecosystem
• Quick testing of real demand for new AI scenarios
• Ability to monetize the market even without a ready Siri

What This Means

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