Apple’s quiet conquest of SA’s small business sector

By the time you read this, your YouTube feed will be clogged with content about the new iPhones. After a month of living with the iOS 26 beta on the excellent and often slept-on iPhone 16e – Apple’s previous newest phone – my conclusion is that UX design still matters, AI chatbots need work, and phones should definitely not fold, but that’s maybe just a me thing.

What’s not just a me thing, however, is the quiet revolution happening in South African small and medium enterprises (SMMEs). Linda van der Nest, chief commercial officer at iStore, is paid to watch technology adoption patterns, and she says she’s witnessing something remarkable: SMMEs are switching to Mac, and it’s not about how the logo on the lid looks at your local coffee spot. It’s about the bottom line.

You don’t need an IT guy

“There’s no longer this fear that it won’t be compatible [with business software],” Van der Nest explains to Daily Maverick. “What we’re seeing is ease of use… you don’t need an IT guy. There’s a real cost of ownership benefit and significantly lower downtime.”

When she says lower downtime, she means battery life – which was the productivity silver bullet in the Apple Silicon revolution. For businesses operating on tight margins, that hits differently, and the true cost of technology becomes crystal clear. The shift van der Nest describes isn’t just a trend; it’s a strategic business decision reflecting a move towards operational resilience of AI workloads and time away from a wall plug.

This local pattern is reinforced by global data, particularly among younger users who now dominate the emerging workforce. In the US, the under-35 demographic overwhelmingly prefers iPhones and Macs. This isn’t just about brand loyalty or status; it’s about an integrated ecosystem becoming a baseline expectation for productivity.

An ecosystem built on accessibility

This market flip didn’t happen by accident. iStore spent years, 20 in total, methodically dismantling the barriers to entry. Van der Nest points to a “very big, dedicated enterprise business called iStore Business”, which offers extensive finance and rental programmes, specialised support, and services leveraging Apple’s built-in device management tools.

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve been obsessed with how we bring Apple to more and more South Africans,” she says.

The strategy is simplified complexity: consolidating cellular network deals under one roof, deep partnerships with banks and a trade-in programme that she describes as “best in world.” 

That programme fuels a circular economy through dedicated pre-owned stores, creating an affordable entry point into the Apple ecosystem. It’s a clever and systematic play to solve the accessibility problem that has historically kept Apple a niche, premium product.

From UX to, erm… AX?

But there’s a shift incoming – a move from user experience (UX) to agentic experience (AX). We are moving from command-based interactions (book me a flight) to intent-based ones (I need to be in New York for a meeting on Friday morning).

Agentic AI systems, built to act on our behalf, place an enormous premium on seamless integration. The value shifts from what a single device can do to how seamlessly a collection of devices can coordinate to achieve a goal. 

For businesses, the promise of reduced complexity and proactive tools that anticipate needs is a powerful competitive advantage.

iStore seems to see this coming, establishing AI development hubs in Sandton and Cape Town where entrepreneurs can test models on powerful Mac clusters at no cost. It’s an investment in the next generation of businesses that will be built on this new agentic paradigm.

Samsung has the flexible edge

This isn’t to say the war is won. Apple has dithered on AI and Android still commands more than 70% of the global mobile market, with Samsung’s hardware innovation remaining formidable and putting points on the board for Google’s more advanced AI services. But while foldables remain a niche category plagued by high costs and durability concerns, Samsung is playing a longer, more complex game.

Samsung Display Corporation (SDC) has positioned itself as the kingmaker, commanding more than 50% of the foldable OLED screen market. SDC has secured an exclusive deal to supply the panels for Apple’s first-generation foldable iPhone, expected in 2026.

You can see it coming with the liquid glass elements and oversized control toggles in iOS 26, which makes more sense on the wider display of my iPad Mini than on the iPhone.

When Apple’s device launches, SDC’s market share could surge to over 70%, potentially making Samsung more money from Apple’s success than from its own foldable sales. 

Apple sells integrated experiences, while Samsung sells the future of hardware, sometimes even to its biggest rival.

Fighting for the upper crust

However, Samsung’s hardware strength shouldn’t be underestimated. As Justin Hume, the Korean company’s local VP of consumer devices told Daily Maverick at the Galaxy Z Fold 7 launch: “You’ve got a massively thriving and upward-growing entry segment. It’s mid-tier that’s seeing the pressure, and then there’s a pretty strong ultra segment.” 

Samsung’s challenge is defending both ends of the market while Apple consolidates the middle through ecosystem integration and without head-turning devices like foldables, for now. For real, Galaxy S25 Ultra outsells the S25 Plus and even the standard model.

But after setting a goal of spending 20 working days with my main SIM in a Galaxy Z Fold 7 – which is a hardware marvel – I fell off the bandwagon halfway through. Why? Chief among my OneUI complaints is actually Android’s inability to make WhatsApp calls in the car by asking the virtual assistant. This is not possible with Google Assistant on Android Auto.

As far as usability goes, the Fold 7 is also neither a great phone nor tablet, rather a halfway hybrid that trips over itself when switching between modes mid-task.

The software can’t decide where Samsung ends and Google begins, and the AI seems stuck between Google Assistant things and Gemini things. Surprisingly, Siri has always lapped the others on simple tasks like that.

Lost in the world

For South African businesses, the choice is becoming clearer. Samsung offers cutting-edge hardware and competitive choice. But Apple, through iStore’s deep infrastructural investment, is offering something else: a cohesive, low-friction productivity ecosystem.

The conventional play of smartphone and laptop is still going to be powerful until the AI models can run seamlessly on mobile, as they do on desktop.

As we enter an era where our devices become increasingly intelligent and proactive, the question isn’t whether phones should fold (though I maintain they shouldn’t), but whether we’re building technology ecosystems that amplify human capability rather than merely showcase technical complexity. DM