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Former GM CEO on Apple Car: 'They Have No Idea What They're Getting Into'

Like GM should be talking tbh. Do we even know for sure what Apple is doing? What if they're not even trying to get into the car business lol
 
I love how interested he is in the profit margins. People are more than willing to pay a premium for Apple products. They wouldn't dream of making a car without a 30% profit margin...and they'll get it too. Just not from me :)
 
zedsdead said:
Apple has almost $200 billion in cash....GM had to be bailed out by the tax payers.

Apple knows precisely what it's doing.
Click to expand...

To be fair Apple had no idea what it was doing with mobile phones, or portable music players, or digital music distribution or...

You get my point.

They go away, they learn, and then they dominate. Apple won't be going into this blindly.
 
Icaras said:
So did Steve Balmer on the iPhone, and Michael Dell on Apple Retail stores.

This guy will be the next addition to the hall of shame.
Click to expand...

balmer had a very legit point regarding the iphone (price) which apple changed not long after.

quite sad that its so often brought up
 
Apple wanted to enter the phone business.
Moat people said Apple does not know that it's getting itself into.
Fastforward 7+ years and their phones are making Apple billions.

Apple and the auto business will be the same. It'll work out in the end.
 
iapplelove said:
700billion company net worth I think apple had a right to get into just about any business they so choose.
Click to expand...

And do people ask why Facebook buys VR companies and solar-powered drone companies? Why Google does pretty much everything under the sun (mostly at a loss other than search-based advertising) including buying robotics companies and developing self-driving cars? It seems only Apple gets this level of scrutiny, despite the fact that they are by far the most successful company in the world (not just tech company!)
 
rye9 said:
I knew this would be the first post. And I am so disheartened to be proven right.

Just because Apple has billions in cash from successful products, does not have any correlation whatsoever to their ability to enter a new market (both new to them and to industry as a whole) without making mistakes. I'd like to point out that in no way do I think Apple should avoid the sector, as the GM former CEO states, because as a company devoted to quality, and who has tons of resources ($$$), they'll be hopefully able to do it justice. But just because they have the means to toy around with the idea of a car, do extensive research, etc... doesn't mean they know exactly what they're doing. Generating billions of dollars in profit on consumer electronics doesn't indicate they know how to make a car.
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Yes, but in defense of the original commentor, those billions were made in part from devices and services that were an example of Apple entering markets they weren't currently in and making profitable advancements far beyond those that were in that industry at the time.

If Apple does enter the car market I hope they shake the whole industry up. Maybe they can find efficiency that the present car industry does not have. Maybe they can do it cheaper and better.
 
Looking forward to not updating the software in my iCar so that it will continue to run.
 
So? Johnny Ive will take raw steel and turn it into a car WITH chamfered edges! :apple:
 
LastLine said:
To be fair Apple had no idea what it was doing with mobile phones, or portable music players, or digital music distribution or...

You get my point.

They go away, they learn, and then they dominate. Apple won't be going into this blindly.
Click to expand...

they also didnt have an idea regarding the hifi market and now the overwhelming majority of homes all have an ipod hifi.

wait i dreamt that.
 
beaker7 said:
Looking forward to not updating the software in my iCar so that it will continue to run.
Click to expand...

Well Apple has a 5 year vintage policy. Sorry, but I don't want my car to become vintage so quick. I think GM at least offers 7-10 years for parts.
 
zedsdead said:
Apple has almost $200 billion in cash....GM had to be bailed out by the tax payers.

Apple knows precisely what it's doing.
Click to expand...

what?
I have some money in my bank account, and my friend who is a photographer lives on his credit card.

therefore I'm a better photographer than my friend?
 
I would have to agree with his comments. They should focus on software and some infotainment type stuff. But actually producing a car has a lot of down falls like he mentioned.
 
Your Signature Quote

LordVic said:
The Car industry absolutely dwarfs Apple.

GM alone pulled in over 150 BILLION in revenues.
Toyota had 190 BILLION



The production chain in the automotive world is absolutely ginormous in comparison with the tech industry.

Listen, I think its possible Apple might use some of those wads of cash to put their logo on someone elses car. But I cannot even begin to fathom the sheer costs involved with starting a new automobile company from scratch.

The only reason Tesla has had any of their success was the Musk's direct involvement, keeping small scale, and having technology to lean on that nobody else in the entire world had yet.

its a huge uphill battle or Apple.
Click to expand...

LordVic, you have a great signature quote. Please look at it in the context of this thread.
 
Sounds like someone is scared of even more competition. First came Tesla and now dubious rumors of Apple entering the car industry.


Full disclosure, I am holding a long position in AAPL and TSLA.
 
They only need to start with one magical vehicle... A smart car, if you will. There's PLENTY of room for innovation and game changing ideas just as there was in the original iPhone

Low profit margins aren't an issue. Apple can build whatever they want and charge whatever they want. (Again, the first iPhone is a great example of this) If it's magical enough, people will flock to it.
 
zedsdead said:
Apple has almost $200 billion in cash....GM had to be bailed out by the tax payers.

Apple knows precisely what it's doing.
Click to expand...

And this has exactly what to do with Apples plans to build a car?

The GM guy is correct, their is a million miles of difference between car safety red tape laws and mobile phone regulations. One of them doesn't have to protect yourself or others lifes in a crash!

So I don't think Apple will make a car, they will get someone else to do it.
 
Apple didn't need to <strike>borrow</strike> steal my money to make a competitive product.

American auto manufacturers must be crapping themselves, and that makes me very happy. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
 
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