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Elon Musk Backtracks on Earlier Comments, Says 'I Don't Hate Apple'

jimbobb24 said:
…As for his comments - they were dumb. The overlap between his target audience and Apple is huge but their product overlap is currently zero. Seems a silly comment to needlessly offend your customer's sentiments.
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Comments playing to an audience? From a charismatic CEO? Unheard of in this space… [Nobody wants to watch video on an iPod. ]

Misdirection is not the same as not knowing how to handle a potential competitor, though.

It's almost as if Musk thought he could say something in Europe and the rest of the world wouldn't hear about it.

Musk changes his story to suit the circumstances.
When it was reported Apple was hiring Tesla employees, didn't Musk say Tesla hires more from Apple than Apple hires from Tesla?
When that didn't work, he tried getting mean about it and was left with egg on his face.
And changes his story again…

Musk is grasping at straws and it makes him look like he's worried about Apple moving into a space Musk has pretty much had to himself.
The only shame (if there is one here), is how hard Tesla's had to work to gain a foothold in the car market, and I don't blame him for fearing Tesla being seen by history as Apple's opening act.
 
And this, from a guy that has a company that can't exist on its own without taxpayers money. What a chump...
MacRumors said:



elonmusk.jpg
Elon Musk raised eyebrows yesterday when he called Apple the "Tesla Graveyard" in an interview with German newspaper Handelsblatt, but this afternoon he attempted to smooth things over with a series of tweets clarifying his stance on the company.

"Yo, I don't hate Apple," he said before stating "it's a great company with a lot of talented people." Musk says he loves Apple products and he's "glad they're doing an [electric vehicle]."

In the interview, Musk called Apple the Tesla Graveyard after being questioned about Apple hiring some of Tesla's "most important engineers." Musk laughed off the idea that important Tesla employees had left the company for Apple and said people Apple hired had already been fired from Tesla. "If you don't make it at Tesla, you go work at Apple," he said. "I'm not kidding."

Musk also made fun of products like the Apple Watch, the iPad Pro, and the Apple Pencil, comments that he explained in a bit more detail today. In a second tweet, Musk said he wasn't a fan of the Apple Watch's functionality, but expects it to be a much more compelling product in the future.

​

Apple and Tesla have been at odds in recent months as Apple has entered the car business. The two companies have been poaching employees from one another for several months running, but Musk has maintained that Apple has hired away "very few people" from Tesla despite attempting to lure Tesla employees with salary increases and large signing bonuses.

Article Link: Elon Musk Backtracks on Earlier Comments, Says 'I Don't Hate Apple'
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Dmunjal said:
You are wrong. Tesla has 25% margins and make a profit on every car they sell. They are in startup mode so they reinvest every penny into expansion so it shows up as a loss for accounting purposes.

If they stopped the expansion, they would be profitable right now.

http://bgr.com/2015/08/11/tesla-model-s-profits-4000/
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Tesla is subsidized by the taxpayers.

Tesla is nothing more than a slush fund. It doesn't matter that there isn't ever going to be a demand for electric cars to produce real profits. It doesn't matter that in order to stay in business you have to have a product people want.

Tesla doesn't earn profits from sales. It is a parasite kept alive by taxpayer money. GM wouldn't be selling the Volt if it had to depend on a real market for electric cars because there never has and never will be one.
 
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You are the One said:
His comments about his ex-employees gives him away as a not very refined person.

Any employer with integrity would be thankful for the contributions of their ex-employed and wish them good luck in their continued careers. To diss them is just low.
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You've obviously never met MY boss then!
He makes Tesla's comments look like pure joy and happiness.
Our boss will rubbish YOU, rubbish the company you are about to go work for.
Even told one of our employees, after they handed their notice in that they were a Cancer to the company.
 
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Patriot72 said:
Tesla doesn't earn profits from sales. It is a parasite kept alive by taxpayer money. GM wouldn't be selling the Volt if it had to depend on a real market for electric cars because there never has and never will be one.
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Yet folks here want an apple car (myself included). Would that car be gas powered since there is no market for electric, and never will be?
 
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Patriot72 said:
Tesla is subsidized by the taxpayers.

Tesla is nothing more than a slush fund. It doesn't matter that there isn't ever going to be a demand for electric cars to produce real profits. It doesn't matter that in order to stay in business you have to have a product people want.

Tesla doesn't earn profits from sales. It is a parasite kept alive by taxpayer money. GM wouldn't be selling the Volt if it had to depend on a real market for electric cars because there never has and never will be one.
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Never will be one? This makes no sense. When more affordable electric cars are released, there will be no interest? Do you see the demand for a Model 3? Through. the. roof.
 
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Patriot72 said:
Tesla is subsidized by the taxpayers.

Tesla is nothing more than a slush fund. It doesn't matter that there isn't ever going to be a demand for electric cars to produce real profits. It doesn't matter that in order to stay in business you have to have a product people want.

Tesla doesn't earn profits from sales. It is a parasite kept alive by taxpayer money. GM wouldn't be selling the Volt if it had to depend on a real market for electric cars because there never has and never will be one.
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GM would be gone right now if the government hadn't bailed it out. So....knock this crap off about Tesla being subsidized. They PAID that loan BACK and EARLY.
 
Patriot72 said:
Tesla doesn't earn profits from sales. It is a parasite kept alive by taxpayer money. GM wouldn't be selling the Volt if it had to depend on a real market for electric cars because there never has and never will be one.
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Same thing is going on with wind power (the extremely ugly propellers littered around all over the place) in the European country where I live.

The investment in and maintenance of these propellers is extremely costly, many companies running them are broke now. And local communities/authorities have to put more and more money into sinking ships.

Who pays for this "green" madness? Taxpayers. What do they get in return? Peanuts.

It's a "green" mob of politicians and businesses (sometimes the same people) that fleece taxpayers. The politicians get "green" plus points and business get paid for delivering crap.

All at the cost of the tax payers.

Very intelligent setup. But the people running it are crooks.
 
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So Musk hates Apple. Everybody hates Apple. The majority of posters on MacRumors hate Apple. What’s the big deal? When you’re the top dog you have a giant bullseye on your back. Everybody hates you and wants to see you fail.
 
Anyone else wondering why it's been 3 days and this is still the top Macrumors post on the front page? Haha.
 
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You are the One said:
Same thing is going on with wind power (the extremely ugly propellers littered around all over the place) in the European country where I live.

The investment in and maintenance of these propellers is extremely costly, many companies running them are broke now. And local communities/authorities have to put more and more money into sinking ships.

Who pays for this "green" madness? Taxpayers. What do they get in return? Peanuts.

It's a "green" mob of politicians and businesses (sometimes the same people) that fleece taxpayers. The politicians get "green" plus points and business get paid for delivering crap.

All at the cost of the tax payers.

Very intelligent setup. But the people running it are crooks.
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Does your country have an aversion to nuclear power?
 
Patriot72 said:
Tesla is subsidized by the taxpayers.

Tesla is nothing more than a slush fund. It doesn't matter that there isn't ever going to be a demand for electric cars to produce real profits. It doesn't matter that in order to stay in business you have to have a product people want.

Tesla doesn't earn profits from sales. It is a parasite kept alive by taxpayer money. GM wouldn't be selling the Volt if it had to depend on a real market for electric cars because there never has and never will be one.
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GM wouldn't exist today if it wasn't for the taxpayers! Lol

You're issue isn't with Tesla, it's with the US Congress. The same Congress that allows Apple to shelter billions outside the country.

As I said, Tesla sells each car for a profit. Margins higher than Porsche. That can't be denied.
 
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Piggie said:
You've obviously never met MY boss then!
He makes Tesla's comments look like pure joy and happiness.
Our boss will rubbish YOU, rubbish the company you are about to go work for.
Even told one of our employees, after they handed their notice in that they were a Cancer to the company.
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That's sad. Don't work for psychopaths.
 
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You are the One said:
Be more specific please, diamond. E.g. USA and the west have an aversion against people getting killed. At the same time they are the planets worst killers.
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Oh. Yeah my country doesn't like nuclear. I was curious if your country was like mine. Funny though as I live fairy close to one of VA's nuclear reactors but my electric company doesn't use it as a primary source of power.
 
Dmunjal said:
Tesla gets no special subsidies or task breaks that aren't available to any manufacturer. Sure, they take advantage of them more than anyone but there's nothing stopping GM or Toyota from doing the same thing. The Nissan Leaf gets the same $7500 rebate.

The loan they did get was paid back early.

Tesla is profitable and their margins rival Apple. What they've been doing is putting all the profits and reinvesting in capital expenses like battery factories and scaling production.

As for the amount, what Tesla and the green industry get in subsidies is pennies compared to what the oil industry gets.

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/06...benefits-5-3-trillion-subsidies-annually.html

Oil Companies Reap Billions From Subsidies http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/04/business/04bptax.html
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That's the point - Tesla is the biggest beneficiary of subsidies and they go to their 1% clientele, people who don't need (or let's be honest, deserve) ANY subsidies. This is the rich getting richer off the backs of the taxpayer.

Tesla repaid their loan early to avoid having to share their govt subsidized profits with the taxpayer:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-loan-payback-deprives-us-160117017.html

This is not some altruistic company - like Solyndra they are pure rent seekers who are FOO (Friends Of Obama) and thus can rig the system while hiding behind a green energy fig leaf. But hey, unlike Solyndra at least Tesla makes some fantastic products (courtesy of the US taxpayer).

I'll let you get back to worshipping St. Musk now as he fleeces the US taxpayer for his latest boondoggle (SpaceX lol).
 
hans_vanhans said:
That's the point - Tesla is the biggest beneficiary of subsidies and they go to their 1% clientele, people who don't need (or let's be honest, deserve) ANY subsidies. This is the rich getting richer off the backs of the taxpayer.

Tesla repaid their loan early to avoid having to share their govt subsidized profits with the taxpayer:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-loan-payback-deprives-us-160117017.html

This is not some altruistic company - like Solyndra they are pure rent seekers who are FOO (Friends Of Obama) and thus can rig the system while hiding behind a green energy fig leaf. But hey, unlike Solyndra at least Tesla makes some fantastic products (courtesy of the US taxpayer).

I'll let you get back to worshipping St. Musk now as he fleeces the US taxpayer for his latest boondoggle (SpaceX lol).
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This is about facts. Why don't you say Apple takes advantage of the system in sheltering billions offshore?

Btw, the DOE loan and the rebates began under the Bush administration.
 
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Soccertess said:
All I can say is if you think you are smarter or would be more successful than Elon, then please go take over spacex and tesla. These companies are changing the world, and I wish them (and you) all the best.
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That's the point - why can't anyone get hundreds of millions in tax free, interest free subsidies to take their shot? Why does Musk get to play with $500,000,000+ of taxpayer money with NO RISK WHATSOEVER of actual failure - hey, we can just print more money, right?

Making a profitable product without government help is significantly harder than making an unprofitable product entirely subsidized by taxpayers with your target market 1%er millionaires and billionaires.
 
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