By The Apple SVP believes the company must remain agile since new technologies such as AI could eventually kill its most profitable products.
One of Apple’s most senior executives has suggested that its most popular product may become obsolete within a decade.
“You may not need an iPhone 10 years from now, as crazy as it sounds,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Services, stated during a trial to assess penalties in Google’s search-related antitrust case. “The only way to have meaningful competition is when technology evolves. These chances arise as a result of technological advancement. AI is a major technological change that opens up new potential for new entrants.
According to Bloomberg, this is the first time a public executive at Apple has hinted to the end of the iPhone owing to artificial intelligence. Cue isn’t sure what will eventually replace the iPhone, but he knows the company must remain open to new options.
One of the “best things” Apple has ever done, he claims, is to render the iPod useless. “We killed the iPod ourselves with the iPhone,” claimed Cue. “Most firms have a tough time destroying themselves when new technology comes along because they are frightened to kill the golden goose, in a manner. So, in general, I see new technology emerging, new enterprises forming, and incumbents struggling to adapt.”
The iPod was debuted in 2001, and Apple will abandon it in 2022. The final generation was the 2019 iPod touch, which, with its display and access to the App Store, performed similarly to an iPhone but had fewer connectivity choices.
Of course, executives testifying in these courts are doing their best not to make their corporations sound like behemoths that require regulation (and dissolution). And the iPhone remains a cash cow. According to Apple’s Q2 2025 financial reports, the iPhone accounted for 49.1% of the company’s $95.4 billion in revenue. During that time, the business introduced the iPhone 16e, its new entry-level model.
Services accounted for a sizable portion of Apple’s revenue, increasing to about 28%, although this is still a far cry from the money earned from iPhone sales.
Cue also said that Apple is looking into alternatives to Google Search for Safari. He acknowledged that the corporation had spoken with AI startups including Anthropic, OpenAI, and Perplexity. He claims that Apple is keeping its options open and is planning to “make sure we can switch if we need to.”
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