Investing.com -- Morgan Stanley said Thursday that its latest consumer survey showed varying consumer attitudes toward AI-enabled products, signaling that the much-anticipated AI hardware supercycle may still be in its early days.
The survey, which included 400 respondents—200 laptop buyers from Best Buy (NYSE:BBY) and 200 recent Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) customers—revealed lukewarm enthusiasm for AI features in consumer electronics.
“Some consumers intentionally shop for AI-enabled products, with ~15% of all respondents buying an Apple product or a laptop specifically because of AI functionality,” said the bank.
However, the survey also revealed that 60% of consumers who bought AI-enabled devices did so without realizing it, and a similar percentage of overall respondents were either unsure or unaware if their recent purchases included AI functionalities.
Looking forward, enthusiasm for AI-enabled devices is said to appear muted.
Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) stated that over 60% of those surveyed indicated they are unwilling to pay more for products with AI capabilities, while 25% of respondents expressed no interest in AI-enabled devices at all.
Furthermore, only a modest 15% of consumers showed strong interest in purchasing an AI device within the next year.
The mixed sentiment reflects the early stages of the AI adoption curve, Morgan Stanley noted, with the data suggesting that the AI hardware supercycle may progress more slowly than anticipated.
“This wide range of preferences reflects the early stages of the AI hardware supercycle, in our view, and suggests that the adoption curve for AI-enabled products may be shallower than expected in the near term. We believe the survey results support our Equal-weight rating on BB,” added the bank, stating that it is “too early to tell whether an AI supercycle could meaningfully improve comps over the medium-term while any near-term impact should be limited.”