Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) shares gained 1.4% over the week, even as the company issued a weaker-than-expected quarterly forecast that briefly rattled investor confidence.
The iPhone maker is reportedly developing a screenless fitness band that could resemble the Whoop band, with Bloomberg reporting that Apple is exploring devices with no displays, round screens, and various form factors.
The fitness wearable category is drawing increasing competition from Garmin and Google’s Fitbit, making Apple’s reported move into screenless devices a potentially significant strategic response.
Apple’s most anticipated hardware release remains its first-ever foldable iPhone, widely expected to be announced in September, representing the only major form-factor change in the device’s two-decade history.
The September launch will mark the first major product event under incoming CEO John Ternus, who is set to officially take over next month, adding additional symbolic weight to the announcement.
Apple faces headwinds from elevated memory chip costs and has already raised prices on its Macs, iPads, and Watches, though it has kept iPhone prices unchanged for the time being.
On the components front, Apple has been testing memory chips from China’s CXMT across product lines in China, including iPhones and MacBooks, to help mitigate a component shortage fueled by the AI boom, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
CXMT is not currently on the U.S. Commerce Department’s Entity List, though Washington has considered adding it and has imposed export controls restricting its access to advanced chipmaking technology, while a separate Pentagon blacklist ties the firm to alleged Chinese military links.
CXMT raised 57.92 billion yuan, equivalent to $8.6 billion, in its Shanghai IPO last month, making it Asia’s biggest listing of the year, with its stock surging 466% on its trading debut and lifting its market capitalization to approximately $487 billion, surpassing Intel’s market value of $462.38 billion at the time.
Laptop makers HP and Acer have already begun using CXMT memory chips in devices sold outside the United States, signaling growing industry reliance on the Chinese chipmaker beyond Apple’s own reported testing.
If Apple formally contracts CXMT, analysts suggest it would add competition in the conventional memory market, though high-bandwidth memory should remain relatively insulated, with Micron and SK Hynix continuing to benefit most from AI-driven demand.
Apple’s China ambitions extend beyond hardware, with Reuters reporting that Apple published guidance explaining how eligible Mac users in mainland China can connect Alibaba’s Qwen AI to Siri and the company’s Writing Tools feature, a move that could strengthen Apple’s position in China’s AI PC market a year after the two companies announced their partnership.
Retail sentiment for AAPL on Stocktwits climbed to “bullish” by Sunday, with the stock up 15.5% year to date despite the near-term pressure from its latest forecast.
