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Apple Looking to Hire Samsung Battery Experts and Other High-Tech Employees

ArtOfWarfare said:
If Apple were moving more aggressively into TV or VR that wouldn't be boring or losing focus. Apple is a consumer electronics company... EVs are not consumer electronics. Swapping out a gas engine for a battery doesn't magically move automotives from one market into another.
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No, but there is a confluence of factors all coming to a head within the next 3-7 years - electrification, automation, big advancements in infotainment systems, and ride sharing. That doesn't mean a 3,000 pound, $30,000 machine isn't a big leap for Apple. But by all appearances, a vehicle in 2020 or 2025 is going to resemble a computer more than the cars of old - much as the smartphone market got away from the old players when those devices became computers rather than telephones.

We more or less mastered tires, transmissions, upholstering, glass and metalworking decades ago. In the near future, the differentiators and drivers of change are going to be sensors, cameras, algorithms, machine learning, mapping databases, dashboard UI design, and web services (eg uber-like system for on-demand). Who's more poised to deliver that - Apple and Google, or GM and Toyota?
 
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HenryDJP said:
Perhaps but what is true is Apple has become the most valuable company worldwide....and that was achieved long after Cook came around, so he most certainly has proved himself to be a worthy successor to Jobs. Innovation of "cool" products is not the only thing that makes for a great CEO. Apple is certainly not mismanaged.
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Yes, but I didn't say or even suggest Cook was an incompetent manager. If I felt that I would have sold my AAPL shares a long time ago. Unlike most here I do have skin in the game.

I said Cook still has to prove himself as an idea guy. Apple has prospered under Cook with legacy products and newly found efficiencies. That's all great and noteworthy but Tim Cook's Apple is still "under construction."
 
Apple needs the best experts in the industry to work in its photocopying and duplication division.
 
ChrisNH said:
No company is great at everything. Even the best companies know where their 'water's edge' is. They know where they shine and ought to also know where they don't. When it comes to vehicles, this is probably a BIG step way over the 'water's edge' for Apple. I also might say their big-screen TV idea approaches that, too. (How many Apple Stores have back-of-house space to inventory these things?). And no stores have a footprint necessary to display a car...never mind inventory them.

So, I'm thinking this is 'jump-the-shark' time for Apple.
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Ah. So Apple can't make cars because Apple stores aren't big enough. Got it.

That's like saying GE can't make jet engines because there isn't room on the light bulb aisle.

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Michael Goff said:
So you're saying Samsung has battery tech of the future?
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I'm saying the car of the future will be heavily reliant on battery tech.
 
samcraig said:
But aren't they worried these Samsung employees will only be SPIES?! :eek::eek::eek::eek:
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But what if they were Apple spies before tasked with influencing Samsung to copy Apple so Apple can sue them? Now that their job is done and they've learned Samsung's secrets and Apple is hiring them to take possession of the knowledge to eventually take over the world?
 
Apple car....

Personally I very much doubt that Apple would be getting into vehicle manufacturing, seems too far from their core business.

However, they could be trying to be an engine/drivetrain/systems specialist perhaps. So maybe in the future, Ford, Audi, Tesla (or whoever) could design and build the chassis, body, suspension and all that stuff and then buy the complete power and control systems from Apple.

Just like Rolls Royce and others do for Jets... :eek:
 
ChrisNH said:
No company is great at everything. Even the best companies know where their 'water's edge' is. They know where they shine and ought to also know where they don't. When it comes to vehicles, this is probably a BIG step way over the 'water's edge' for Apple. I also might say their big-screen TV idea approaches that, too. (How many Apple Stores have back-of-house space to inventory these things?). And no stores have a footprint necessary to display a car...never mind inventory them.

So, I'm thinking this is 'jump-the-shark' time for Apple.
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My feeling is that Apple's products are born of philosophy first, expertise second. One can always acquire the expertise. I would love to see a car born of Apple philosophy. The type of critical thinking: What is a car; what is its purpose; how could technology improve the user experience... And we start to ask questions, does a car need a steering wheel, does it need to be orientated forwards and backwards and so on and so forth. Do we need a driver, perhaps we could use modular storage, and send the car to the grocery store to pick up the shopping. I would love for Apple to make a comfortable vehicle that "Just works" to transfer me from point A-B. They certainly have the development dollars for it.
 
ArtOfWarfare said:
Apple doesn't need to produce new content. They can change the way content is delivered to consumers, the way they did with the iTunes store. This isn't something completely new to them. They're already selling videos through the iTunes store. They just need to shake up the model.

The current model sucks. You pay a cable company tons of money, who then only allows you to watch content at specific times, and they still give you 30 seconds of ads for every 1 minute of content.

It's utter BS, and everyone knows it. The issue is that thus far, there hasn't been a big enough company to try and disrupt this market yet. It's been smaller companies trying it, which then get crushed in court by the cable companies (whether the case has merit or not is irrelevant - small companies can't afford to go to court no matter how frivolous.) The companies that strike me as being best positioned to shake it up are:
1 - Apple
2 - Google
3 - T-Mobile

I hate Google and it'd be a stretch for T-Mobile, so I'm hoping Apple does it.
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I agree with you re: TV. I just think disruption is difficult and one could argue disrupting this space has just as little to do with "consumer electronics" as cars do. Though I have a feeling Tim Cook would never refer to Apple as a consumer electronics company.
 
Tesla & Google have proven Silicon Valley are the innovators in the next big car movement.

Why would anyone expect Apple to not be in the game as well?
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Yes, but I didn't say or even suggest Cook was an incompetent manager. If I felt that I would have sold my AAPL shares a long time ago. Unlike most here I do have skin in the game.

I said Cook still has to prove himself as an idea guy. Apple has prospered under Cook with legacy products and newly found efficiencies. That's all great and noteworthy but Tim Cook's Apple is still "under construction."
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I never said that you stated that he was incompetent. I was saying (in different words) that you cannot compare him to Jobs. SJ was a visionary. That was his craft. Saying Cook hasn't proven himself just because he's not the "idea guy" Jobs was really has no relevance. Each has their own craft. Apple was already "Up There" when Jobs was on board but he didn't get Apple above Exxon Mobile in terms of company value, so you can't give all the credit to Apple's legacy products.

Cook has been the CEO for 4 years and he's done quite a bit and the company has progressed quite a bit. I'm not looking for him to be the "idea guy", he can hire people for that. He needs to take the company to the next level and he has been doing that.
 
lavvo said:
This just in, seems like they are definitely thinking of doing something in the EV space http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/23/sa...ic-vehicles-with-battery-pack-maker-purchase/
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Samsung has been in the EV space for quite some time. It was surprising to me they supply the battery units for the BMW i3 and i8. That article seems less about Samsung making an EV and more about Samsung strategically solidifying and growing it's supplier relationships to ensure it will continue to be an important player in EV components.

There are also rumors floating around Tesla is looking to further diversify it's battery suppliers so they aren't so dependent on Panasonic. Reportedly, Samsung will get about 8% of that production this year and as much as 40% in 2016. All of this is just speculation so take it with a grain of salt.
 
Steve is irreplaceable. He had the visions, ideas, and the psychotic drive that is very rare these days.

Tim is a great CEO. He is a bean counter and numbers guy at the core. Nothing wrong with that at all. Jony is the one that needs to provide the vision and ideas.

Basically, Tim and Jony = Steve
 
Cuban Missles said:
I hope this is true. Apple has reportedly been trying to diversify away from Samsung for it A-chips, but has been unable to do so. Therefore, it makes sense to get the brain trust over to Apple and develop it itself. I know this article says its about batteries, but I am just hopeful this goes beyond that.
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Apple develops the A chip itself. Samsung merely fabricates the devices.
 
69Mustang said:
Samsung has been in the EV space for quite some time. It was surprising to me they supply the battery units for the BMW i3 and i8. That article seems less about Samsung making an EV and more about Samsung strategically solidifying and growing it's supplier relationships to ensure it will continue to be an important player in EV components.

There are also rumors floating around Tesla is looking to further diversify it's battery suppliers so they aren't so dependent on Panasonic. Reportedly, Samsung will get about 8% of that production this year and as much as 40% in 2016. All of this is just speculation so take it with a grain of salt.
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but... but... Samsung always copied Apple, they only started going into the car industry because Apple rumored it.

just like TVs.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Still here. Big Concepts do not equate to Big Realization. I still have big $ bets on Apple and Cook but he has yet to fully prove himself as the successor of Jobs as an idea guy. We will get a better glimpse of that as the Apple Watch rolls out, and of course between 2015 and 2020 Apple needs to have other all-new products. It can't just depend on the iPhone. 2020 is a long time away in corporate fiscal years.
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Saying that there won't be another Steve jobs, I'd say that Cook did a good job so far.

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Rogifan said:
Massive mistakes and blunders? A bit hyperbolic, no? You don't sell more product than you ever have in history if those products are full of massive mistakes and blunders.
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Haters gonna hate, no matter what... :rolleyes:

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amro said:
As a CEO successor, he has proven himself. As an idea guy, I don't know, but he is bringing in other idea guys. And it looks like he's giving them the freedom to explore. But will it all be unified? Jobs could see the "big picture". I don't see where an Apple car fits into the Apple's big picture.

Still, it's an interesting ride (npi). And nowhere near as dull has had been predicted when Cook took over.
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Correct. He's the CEO. He doesn't have to be the "idea guy" behind Apple.

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bigrell486 said:
Um, Samsung has been making cars since 1994. I know you're being cheeky but still...
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Has usual, Samsung has been making XXXX since 1990, because basically Samsung has been making everything....
How they are making things is the real point of discussion.......
 
Poaching Battery experts is more feasible for use with Apples current product line and the need for better battery technology Whether or not we see an AppleCar remains to be seen but I wouldn't count on it
 
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