--- title: "Apple puts Alibaba's Qwen inside Siri in China in December, with no price or revenue split public" description: "Apple's first Apple Intelligence features for mainland China ship with iOS 27.3 in December, putting Alibaba's Qwen inside Siri and Writing Tools. No price, split or contract term is public, and the Alibaba segment that carries Qwen lost $2.04 billion last quarter." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Applications" published: 2026-11-02T16:05:21.737Z modified: 2026-11-02T16:05:21.737Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/apple-puts-alibaba-s-qwen-inside-siri-in-china-in-december-with-no-price-or-revenue-split-public language: en keywords: "Apple, Alibaba, Siri, Apple Intelligence, Qwen, China" --- # Apple puts Alibaba's Qwen inside Siri in China in December, with no price or revenue split public > Apple's first Apple Intelligence features for mainland China ship with iOS 27.3 in December, putting Alibaba's Qwen inside Siri and Writing Tools. No price, split or contract term is public, and the Alibaba segment that carries Qwen lost $2.04 billion last quarter. ## Siri's new tenant signs in on November 4 [Apple](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/apple) confirmed on October 31 that the first Apple Intelligence features for mainland China reach developers on November 4 and ship to the public with iOS 27.3 in December, in a release on its China newsroom [1]. Qwen, [Alibaba](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/alibaba)'s model family, runs inside Siri, Writing Tools and Visual Intelligence, reached through a Qwen account or Sign in with Apple; users opt in, are asked before any question, document or photo is sent, and Alibaba says requests and responses will not train its models [2][3]. Chief executive Eddie Wu promised Qwen "deeply integrated into experiences across the Apple ecosystem" [3]. The first wave omits the rebuilt Siri shown at WWDC 2026 and starts at the iPhone 15 Pro [1][3]. Regulators registered the service in July, 21 months after chairman Joe Tsai first promised the pairing [2][4], which [The Inference flagged](https://theinference.org/article/apple-s-foldable-opens-for-preorder-october-16-and-in-china-its-ai-is-alibaba-s) when the foldable opened for preorders. ## The terms are silent and the segment bleeds No price, revenue split or contract length is public, and no source ties a specific Qwen version to Apple's build [4][5]. Alibaba's June quarter, the first under its new segmentation, shows what sits underneath: AI Cloud and Compute Services revenue of RMB48.4 billion ($7.14 billion), up 45%, earning RMB5.6 billion in adjusted EBITA, up 133%; AI Labs and Applications, which holds the model labs and the Qwen app, lost RMB13.86 billion ($2.04 billion) on RMB3.3 billion of revenue [6]. Capex rose 75% to RMB67.7 billion, and free cash flow was a RMB44.7 billion outflow [6]. Access runs through a free sign-in, so the return is distribution: a Qwen button inside every recent Chinese iPhone, cheaper than the marketing behind the app [5]. ## China rebounded with no AI to sell *Chart: **Apple's China business grew for three straight quarters with no AI on sale** Column chart of Apple Greater China quarterly revenue: Sep 2025 quarter 14.49, Dec 2025 quarter 25.53, Mar 2026 quarter 20.50, Jun 2026 quarter 18.82, in billions of dollars.* *Apple Greater China revenue by fiscal quarter; Dec 2025, Mar 2026 and Jun 2026 are Q1 to Q3 of fiscal 2026. Source: Apple filings via TIKR, November 1, 2026. [5]* Greater China revenue hit $64.85 billion in the first nine months of fiscal 2026, more than the $64.37 billion booked in all of fiscal 2025, with no Apple Intelligence on sale; the December quarter alone grew 38% to $25.53 billion [5]. Omdia puts Apple at 20% of China's third-quarter smartphone market against [Huawei](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/huawei)'s 21% [2]. December closes a feature gap, not a demand hole. Alibaba rose about 5% on November 2, still down roughly 29% for the year [7], after an October that took 9% off the stock and 24% off the STAR 50 index, leaving it about 50% below Morningstar's fair value estimate [8]. ## What settles it Apple reports after the close tonight, the first report under chief executive [John Ternus](https://theinference.org/markets/people/john-ternus), and the tell is guidance against that $25.53 billion December quarter [5][7]. [Baidu](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/baidu) sits in the reporting as the second local partner with a role nobody has defined [4][5]. Alibaba's next print shows whether the AI Labs loss narrows once Siri starts handing it traffic [6]. Four Qwen4 models are already in preview [9]. Until someone names a price, every Qwen answer inside Siri is free inference in the one market Apple could not serve alone. ## Takeaway Apple's first China AI features arrive in December with Alibaba's Qwen inside Siri at no disclosed price, and the Alibaba segment holding Qwen is losing $2 billion a quarter; Apple's December-quarter guidance tonight and Alibaba's next results show whether the traffic turns into revenue. ## Sources 1. [Unite.AI, Apple Brings First Apple Intelligence Features to China in iOS 27.3, 30 October 2026](https://www.unite.ai/apple-brings-first-apple-intelligence-features-to-china-in-ios-27-3/) 2. [BusinessKorea, Qwen to Power Siri and Apple Intelligence Tools, With Public Rollout Planned for December, 2 November 2026](https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=280197) 3. [Asia News Network, Alibaba's Qwen-powered Apple AI to launch in China in December, 2 November 2026](https://asianews.network/alibabas-qwen-powered-apple-ai-to-launch-in-china-in-december/) 4. [Shattered, Alibaba Qwen Eyes 4 Apple Platforms in China, 2 November 2026](https://shattered.io/alibaba-qwen-apple-intelligence-china-four-platforms-2026/) 5. [Yahoo Finance, Apple Made $64.85 Billion in China in 9 Months Without AI. Now Alibaba's Qwen Is Coming to Siri, 1 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/apple-made-64-85-billion-191018533.html) 6. [Business Wire via 01net, Alibaba Group Announces June Quarter 2026 Results, 20 August 2026](https://01net.it/alibaba-group-announces-june-quarter-2026-results/) 7. [24/7 Wall St., Alibaba Climbs 5% as Apple Picks Qwen to Power iPhone AI in China, 2 November 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/11/02/alibaba-climbs-5-as-apple-picks-qwen-to-power-iphone-ai-in-china-pdd-holdings-rises-3-baidu-gains-2/) 8. [Morningstar, Markets Brief: Alphabet Stock's Worst Day in History, Signs of Strain Across the AI Trade, 2 November 2026](https://www.morningstar.com/markets/markets-brief-alphabet-stocks-worst-day-history-signs-strain-across-ai-trade) 9. [Reddit r/LocalLLM discussion, Alibaba previews four Qwen4 models: Max, Flash, Plus and 27B, 29 October 2026](https://old.reddit.com/r/LocalLLM/comments/1ximftk/alibaba_previews_four_qwen4_models_max_flash_plus/) --- Apple puts Alibaba's Qwen inside Siri in China in December, with no price or revenue split public — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/apple-puts-alibaba-s-qwen-inside-siri-in-china-in-december-with-no-price-or-revenue-split-public