Apple Aiming to Begin Electric Car Production in 2020

[maflynn]

Asinine move by Cook, that's all I can say. If this rumor is truly accurate, its really a stupid move by apple.

Yes, there were nay sayers for the iPod and iPhone and tablet markets, but in all three example apple entered the sector when it was fairly new and could introduce a technology that did improve a consumer's life.

Here we have a 100 year old sector that has thin margins and technology that isn't all that earth shattering.

 

[Col4bin]

Watch, Samsung will rush to market a poorly built electric car by 2018, just to "beat" Apple.

----------

Asinine move by Cook, that's all I can say. If this rumor is truly accurate, its really a stupid move by apple.

Yes, there were nay sayers for the iPod and iPhone and tablet markets, but in all three example apple entered the sector when it was fairly new and could introduce a technology that did improve a consumer's life.

Here we have a 100 year old sector that has thin margins and technology that isn't all that earth shattering.

Mike, I 100% agree. But I've also been saying the same thing regarding Apple's upcoming entry into the fashion wearables timepiece market. (Though I think Apple Watch will carve out a niche there--I don't think the high-end watch manufacturers have anything to worry about at about $850 and up.)

 

[Swordylove]

Apple is doomed. No, really.

 

[maflynn]

But I've also been saying the same thing regarding Apple's upcoming entry into the fashion wearables timepiece market. (Though I think Apple Watch will carve out a niche there--I don't think the high-end watch manufacturers have anything to worry about at about $850 and up.)

I was a little skeptical about the watch, but they're doing it right. The proof will be in the pudding so to speak. After the initial gush wears off and people see the short comings. I agree apple is marketing this as a fashion product and that's probably a good move on them. That way they can cater to a higher paying clientele.

Anyways on the possible move into the automotive sector, that just boggles the mind.

I've seen earlier posts, about buying Tesla. That makes more sense then starting from scratch (and there's no guarantee that tesla will succeed, they only started turning a profit in 2013).

 

[thekeyring]

Every time I see these stories, I think of this video, no lie:

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2nkoGLhrE

Apple wants to be a mega-conglomorate like Samsung: phones, fridges and ships. Except Apple will make cars instead of ships. The fridge is coming too, don't worry.

Isn't that clip mocking the U.S. government, not Apple?

----------

Mike, I 100% agree. But I've also been saying the same thing regarding Apple's upcoming entry into the fashion wearables timepiece market. (Though I think Apple Watch will carve out a niche there--I don't think the high-end watch manufacturers have anything to worry about at about $850 and up.)

I think Apple won't be competing directly with fashion watches. Charging every day, the watches lasting a few years, etc doesn't match a high end Rolex. But it's only one element.

I'm don't think they're entering the fashion market out of choice, but through necessity.

Apple watch is first and foremost a smartwatch, but they realise it does have to be fashionable, too, or people won't wear it.

 

[Ape_Man]

A minivan? Don't think so...

Haven't read through the entire thread, but wanted to comment on this idea.

I actually think that this would be perfect for Apple to do. At the minute, all companies are doing is electrifying or automating cars that we already have.

My family lives in rural Australia, and our families live about 7 hours away. We have a couple of young kids, imagine how great a trip would be if we all had just a little space and got to spend time together. That 7 hour drive keeping kids entertained, calm, quiet, etc would instead become time we could spend together. Make noise, read Dr. Seuss, the possibilities are endless.

A 7 hour chore could become an amazing family time.

Electric cars don't do 7 hours yet, but geeze I would love the day I could turn a long trip into a family bonding session.


Of course, when my kids become teenagers, Apple could invent the dual carriage vehicle and they could sit in the caboose teen-ageing it up and I could sit in the front car doing everything they said was lame.

It would be beautiful.

 

[Morky]

Why not?

If Tesla didn't exist, we'd probably be excited about Apple "inventing" a new car. We'd see it as innovative, cutting-edge, and far ahead of everything else out there. Thing is, Tesla already broke that barrier down.

I don't think Apple leadership wants to peak out with phones and tablets. They seem to be looking far beyond personal portables.

In other words, what is one of the largest piece of "electronics" out there for Apple to jump at? Home automation? Sure - but that isn't a very big dream. Cars? Jet planes?

Maybe we're underestimating how big Apple's dreams are when it comes to being involved in people's lives. Maybe they're thinking much bigger than we'd ever expect.

Agreed. But I think if Tesla didn't exist, I would think Apple is taking a huge risk. But thanks to the model S, Tesla have shown how vulnerable the market is to disruption. If an upstart company with relatively meager resources can start an innovative, profitable car company, why would we assume Apple can't compete here? There is so much innovation that can still happen in cars, especially electric cars, that Apple has a great opportunity to lead the industry. The highest end Tesla can already get 400 miles/charge (in ideal circumstances), and to me, safely going 400 miles on a charge will be the tipping point for electric cars. So where will battery tech be in five years? Apple is skating to where the puck is going.


As far as what you said about them thinking bigger, I've thought for some time that they are just getting started.

 

[Chrjy]

The problem I believe is that Apple are obviously built on an incredibly strong brand and part of that brand is having a limited amount of products that are great.

If they start diversifying into lots of products that brand becomes diluted and they end up as another Samsung or LG.

I never bring this up because time moves on but in this case I do feel it's appropriate to say that I don't feel that Steve Jobs had this in mind for Apple. He knew that it was important to have new products and understood the brand better (obviously) than anyone.

To go to such an extreme in your product lineup just seems odd to me and just talking about building an Apple Car/Vehicle dilutes the brand. It's likely Steve would want to try and focus on the current new lineup such as Apple Watch over the next few years trying to make it and the rest of the products the best they can be.

 

[Rogifan]

How people get the idea of an electric car from an image of a leased minivan with camera equipment is mind boggling. It's a minivan because it needs to seat several engineers doing field testing. For the cameras and other instruments mounted on the car in the picture.

I don't know what the WSJ was thinking honestly. My intuition tells me Apple is ramping up their fleet of field vehicles for Maps and possibly another endeavor by modeling their mapping data for self driving cars (curb heights, etc.) OEMs will need this data after all.

These two things are completely separate. The minivans most likely are related to Maps. But the FT, WSJ, Mac Observer, 9to5Mac and now Bloomberg stories aren't based on these minivans. They're based on Tim Cook apparently greenlighting a team of 1000 to look into the automotive industry and electric vehicles.

 

[maflynn]

The problem I believe is that Apple are obviously built on an incredibly strong brand and part of that brand is having a limited amount of products that are great.

Agreed, a watch is one thing, and you can make a case that it fits the synergy of apple, i.e., taking a product and remaking into something else better. I think the risk vs. reward is so skewed towards the low rewards, high risk - Hemorrhaging Billions, diluting the brand as you mention, Entering a field that they have zero knowledge of and zero credibility.

At least with the iPod they could take some of the laptop and computer skills and extend that, its not a stretch. The phone was a little more of a chance but again it fit within the computer world of apple. There is very little similarity in computers and the internal combustion engine (yes modern cars use computers but its not the same thing)

 

[Rogifan]

The problem I believe is that Apple are obviously built on an incredibly strong brand and part of that brand is having a limited amount of products that are great.

If they start diversifying into lots of products that brand becomes diluted and they end up as another Samsung or LG.

I never bring this up because time moves on but in this case I do feel it's appropriate to say that I don't feel that Steve Jobs had this in mind for Apple. He knew that it was important to have new products and understood the brand better (obviously) than anyone.

To go to such an extreme in your product lineup just seems odd to me and just talking about building an Apple Car/Vehicle dilutes the brand. It's likely Steve would want to try and focus on the current new lineup such as Apple Watch over the next few years trying to make it and the rest of the products the best they can be.

Well board member Mickey Drexler did say a couple years ago that Steve's dream was to design a car.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1837636/...veals-steve-jobs-icar-dream-confirms-living-r

"Look at the car industry; it's a tragedy in America. Who is designing the cars?" Drexler said. "Steve's dream before he died was to design an iCar."

"And," Drexler added with a coy smile, "it would've been probably 50% of the market. He never did design it."

 

[Keirasplace]

The problem I believe is that Apple are obviously built on an incredibly strong brand and part of that brand is having a limited amount of products that are great.

If they start diversifying into lots of products that brand becomes diluted and they end up as another Samsung or LG.

I never bring this up because time moves on but in this case I do feel it's appropriate to say that I don't feel that Steve Jobs had this in mind for Apple. He knew that it was important to have new products and understood the brand better (obviously) than anyone.

To go to such an extreme in your product lineup just seems odd to me and just talking about building an Apple Car/Vehicle dilutes the brand. It's likely Steve would want to try and focus on the current new lineup such as Apple Watch over the next few years trying to make it and the rest of the products the best they can be.

There's a good chance Jobs would be on board with this. He talked about it in the past (though at that time Apple didn't have the financial clout to do it).

Diluting the brand occurs if you offer crappy products (or 40 version of similar products like Samsung). If they have a narrow focus in cars as in consumer electronics, they'll do fine. Do one or two cars really well and they'll do great.

 

[Chrjy]

Diluting the brand occurs if you offer crappy products (or 40 version of similar products like Samsung).

In my view the dilution of the brand is caused when the company in question is focused on a very limited set of products in a particular niche but then diversifies into something entirely different i.e a car in this case

----------

Well board member Mickey Drexler did say a couple years ago that Steve's dream was to design a car.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1837636/...veals-steve-jobs-icar-dream-confirms-living-r

He also had the dream of building a boat but that's not to say he wanted it as part of the Apple product lineup. To me it just feels very odd, it's very unlike Apple and I can't help but think there's something more to this than the limited rumors.

 

[Rogifan]

Agreed, a watch is one thing, and you can make a case that it fits the synergy of apple, i.e., taking a product and remaking into something else better. I think the risk vs. reward is so skewed towards the low rewards, high risk - Hemorrhaging Billions, diluting the brand as you mention, Entering a field that they have zero knowledge of and zero credibility.

At least with the iPod they could take some of the laptop and computer skills and extend that, its not a stretch. The phone was a little more of a chance but again it fit within the computer world of apple. Automative sector is strewn with companies that failed (long ago and fairly recently).

When this WSJ story came out Marc Andreessen re-tweeted it with the comment "yes please" and then later tweeted that if Tesla can do it so could Apple if it wanted to. Now I'm very skeptical about these rumors but I also think its wrong to say Apple is forever stuck to selling laptops and smartphones. Last year Tim Cook said iPhone would be Apple's main revenue driver for the next 5 years. What comes after iPhone? If Apple isn't thinking about that they're nuts. IF these rumors are true (and that's a big IF) we still don't know what Apple's ultimate plans are and a lot of things can change in 5 years.

 

[Edsel]

It's all about the "cloud". Apple, Google, Microsoft want to seduce you to their cloud. They want you to become a prisoner of their ecosystem and their is no better way than to integrate themselves in every facet of your life. Cars, entertainment, work, travel, food, sex..... they have no morals. Remember when Apple participated in the successful federal suit against Microsoft because Microsoft had the most popular internet browser? Suddenly owning your life now is okay?

 

[Chrjy]

Now I'm very skeptical about these rumors but I also think its wrong to say Apple is forever stuck to selling laptops and smartphones.

I agree but at the same time computers, phones, laptops etc evolve over the years and bring with them new opportunities for different types of products. The phone is a prime example of that along with wearables.

Who knows what will evolve from these types of products over the next 20 years.

 

[Rogifan]

In my view the dilution of the brand is caused when the company in question is focused on a very limited set of products in a particular niche but then diversifies into something entirely different i.e a car in this case

----------



He also had the dream of building a boat but that's not to say he wanted it as part of the Apple product lineup. To me it just feels very odd, it's very unlike Apple and I can't help but think there's something more to this than the limited rumors.

I find it a bit baffling too. But right now the majority of Apple's revenues come from one product. Tim Cook said iPhone would be the main revenue driver for the next 5 years. What comes after iPhone that will be a significant revenue driver for the company? Most of Apple's services are intended to drive iOS and Mac sales not be significant revenue drivers in and of themselves. Is the wearables space going to explode? Will VR become mainstream and a profitable business. It is fascinating to ponder what comes after iPhone.

 

[miruoz]

I've said this in other forums, but quite an interesting anecdote: back in November I went to a conference in London where a Partner at Foster+Partners, the architecture firm close to Apple, presented the design for an autonomous vehicle based of the Dymaxion car, here is the car presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rUH63c1n0c&t=14m32s

From a design and use of space perspective, the bonnet is a waste of space, and with the electric motor being so small and close to the wheels, the space used by the bonnet can be used to reduce the car size or increase cabin size.

 

[Zxxv]

I just want a faster MacPro.

Here it is bolted to the iCar.

It's why the new Mac pro was made into a cylinder. You can replace every year to update your iCar.

iCar - 4 wheels,a box, bolt on Mac pro unit = success $$$

Apple surely thinks ahead.

 

[maflynn]

I also think its wrong to say Apple is forever stuck to selling laptops and smartphones.

Agreed and the move to watches is showing this, but making cars?

One of things things Jobs done when looking at new products to invest in, was their ability to turn a decent profit. The automotive industry is not a growth sector with little competition.

I'm not saying apple should stick with laptops but the move to making cars is so out in left field for apple I think if this is true, its a huge risk for apple with little to no reward.

 

[Rogifan]

I agree but at the same time computers, phones, laptops etc evolve over the years and bring with them new opportunities for different types of products. The phone is a prime example of that along with wearables.

Who knows what will evolve from these types of products over the next 20 years.

Hence why I'm skeptical about these rumors but at the same time think it makes sense for Apple to put R&D in this space. I do think it's ripe for disruption and its not wasted learning. Jon Fortt from CNBC wondered if Apple was beefing up its knowledge in this space to eventually make a play for Tesla.

 

[bsolar]

I don't think Apple should get into the car business. What happened to focus on a few good products? What is Apple going to start making everything under the sun like Samsung does?

Soon or later the old visions of the "smart home" will become reality. Apple is in the position of bringing that to the average premium consumer and an Apple-branded smart home is going to use Apple-branded appliances. The internals might even be Samsung, like most of the iPhone components, but Apple would definitely want their brand and their vertical integration to play a role.

So yes, if and when Apple will try to deliver a smart home we'll likely have a Apple fridge too...

 

[CJM]

I say go for it Apple.

The automotive industry is ripe for disruption.

Exactly. Making a car is very Apple. They're all about thinking different, after all. (Even if that means everyone in tech now thinks like Apple)

 

[Arran]

FINALLY! My long-awaited flying car is coming.

Of course, with Apple's penchant for "thin", it'll be a flying carpet.

 

[Rogifan]

Agreed and the move to watches is showing this, but making cars?

One of things things Jobs done when looking at new products to invest in, was their ability to turn a decent profit. The automotive industry is not a growth sector with little competition.

I'm not saying apple should stick with laptops but the move to making cars is so out in left field for apple I think if this is true, its a huge risk for apple with little to no reward.

Well the watch is basically a computer on your wrist, and at this point an iPhone accessory. Who knows where it will be in 5 years but I doubt it will ever drive iPhone like revenues. Apple's net sales in FY2014 were $182B. Look at the Fortune Global 500 or Forbes Global 2000 lists and the only companies generating more revenues than Apple are Walmart, oil companies and auto manufacturers. What drives revenue growth for Apple after iPhone?