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Apple still owns the phone. Does it own the journey?
Bank of America’s Wamsi Mohan basically asked a very uncomfortable question for Cupertino: what if Apple keeps selling iPhones like hotcakes, but loses control of the “what happens next” part of the customer journey? That’s the anxiety here. Meta’s Muse is trying to become the default little robot that books the trip, fills the cart, and handles the payment before you’ve even found your reading glasses.
Why investors should care
Muse launched on Sept. 8 and, according to the piece, shot to the top of the U.S. iOS free-app chart with more than 2.5 million downloads in its first two weeks. The agent already has commerce partners like Shopify, Expedia, and PayPal plugged in, while Amazon slammed the door shut. That matters because every time an AI agent shortcuts the normal app-hopping ritual, Apple risks losing discovery, referral, and transaction-initiation revenue.
Siri’s comeback tour: still lagging
Apple did ship a rebuilt Siri with iOS 27 on Sept. 14, trained with custom Google Gemini models. Nice step, sure. But Mohan says Siri still lacks the persistent background tasks, third-party action coverage, and payment rail completeness that make Muse feel more like a full-time assistant and less like a very expensive homework helper.
The valuation plot twist
BofA still kept Apple at Buy and slapped on a $370 price target, implying 37x calendar 2027 EPS. That’s rich by Apple’s own historical standards, but the bank argues the premium can hold thanks to the agentic-AI opportunity and a multiyear upgrade cycle. In other words: Apple’s moat is under pressure, but Wall Street is betting the castle still has a lot of room to remodel.
Big picture: the iPhone may stay the king of the hardware hill, but AI agents are coming for the tollbooth underneath it.