Report: Apple Chose to Develop Apple Car Alone to Avoid Further Delays, Currently Selecting Suppliers

[BobHinden]

While I share some of the concerns expressed here, Apple has the money to buy an existing car company. Apple's market cap is $2.5 Trillion vs. Ford at $51B and GM is $70B.

The market for cars is going to change a lot in the next 10 years given the move to electric cars. Apple usually isn't the first at anything. The iPhone didn't turn out badly. Remember Nokia....

 

[rcread]

Lucid are liars. As a stock owner of their hollow dreams, I would recommend everyone to avoid them till they can prove their worth.

Jonny Leiberman just drove a Lucid and was very impressed with the product and the factory.

 

[ddsforlife]

😊 So much speculation. I for one am excited to see what Apple has next. 1984 and the original Macintosh put Apple on the map. Most people forming opinions here probably didn't own one. I bought one then and still have that original Macintosh. Has Apple changed since then? Drastically. An Apple Car or no Apple Car, I think Apple has some big stuff cooking that will positively change how we live our lives in the future. For that, I am super excited.

 

[bb9]

Apple is developing its electric vehicle independently without the assistance of another automaker and is currently selecting final parts suppliers, according to sources said to be familiar with Apple's plans speaking to Korea's Maeil Economic Daily.

In line with a previous report from Reuters, the report explains that the company has had its own automobile hardware research and development unit since 2014, but due to development challenges, it contacted BMW, Hyundai, Nissan, and Toyota to explore joint development and contract production agreements.

During this period, its own department for vehicle hardware research and development is believed to have virtually stopped operating around 2016. Separately, software research on self-driving continued.

The talks with automakers apparently fell apart due to repeated delays and the wider industry transformation toward electric vehicles slowing down the progress of any joint development and production agreement. There was also reluctance from some large automakers about becoming a manufacturing subcontractor for Apple. Apple is believed to have decided that it could not delay the launch of its car any further.

With these talks stalling, Apple has entirely turned once again to its own development and restored the full operation of its vehicle research unit. Although Doug Field, Apple's vice president of special projects, recently left the project to join Ford, the company is still believed to have hundreds of engineers working on the vehicle.

Apple has now gone through the process of sending a Request for Information (RFI), Request for Proposal (RFP), and Request for Quotation (RFQ) to global automobile part manufacturers, which is understood to be a signal that the final parts suppliers for Apple's car are now being selected for outsourced production.

Mirroring the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the report places the launch of the vehicle around 2025 to 2027.

Article Link: Report: Apple Chose to Develop Apple Car Alone to Avoid Further Delays, Currently Selecting Suppliers

A very bold move by Apple. Hope it will be as disruptive to the industry as the original iphone. … caught them all with their collective pants around their angle so to speak. 🤞

 

[cardfan]

Tesla and others accomplished the task with fewer resources than Apple. All comes down to how dedicated Apple is to an EV. Hopefully more dedicated than their home automation and speaker divisions.

But but that’s they said about the iPhone. Remember? Lol. Apple can do anything.

 

[abhishake]

That’s Apple. For the crazies. Like Steve Jobs said. Look how far Apple has come since the 90s a long way. At this point I’d say anything possible.

Apple was the one company that certainly could've competed with Tesla, but clearly you (and most people on Macrumors to be honest) really don't know hot far ahead Tesla is. This isn't like making a phone. There's a reason there's still no true competitor to what Tesla does...

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I thought Apple was just going to concentrate on the software for the car with its AI etc and then they can licence it to other companies for use as they will have all the data already collected etc.

As above says building cars is harder than building a mobile phone.

I think Apple decided that this strategy might become a repeat of the ROKR debacle.

“People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.”
~Alan Kay

 

[Kierkegaarden]

An EV is a personal computer. I might say it is the final frontier in personal computing.

 

[jasoncarle]

Worst idea ever...

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I wonder if Apple might look to buy a smallish-medium sized car company to give them the kick start with production capacity and manufacturing expertise, Jaguar Land Rover sized for example.

I don’t what they could add. They might poach employees from these companies, but they’ll probably end up utilizing existing manufacturing relationships that are all pining for these opportunities.

 

[HiVolt]

While I share some of the concerns expressed here, Apple has the money to buy an existing car company. Apple's market cap is $2.5 Trillion vs. Ford at $51B and GM is $70B.

The market for cars is going to change a lot in the next 10 years given the move to electric cars. Apple usually isn't the first at anything. The iPhone didn't turn out badly. Remember Nokia....

I think that's the only way it works, if they buy some established auto maker that isn't junk.

I don't think Apple wants their effort to be low volume exclusive ****. I think they want high volume, and you can't have 3rd party assemble that crap in volume, you need your own plants.

 

[cardfan]

The choice of Lynch to head the car project indicates much of the company’s focus still remains on underlying software and self-driving technology -- rather than the vehicle’s physical mechanics. Lynch has been a software executive for decades, not someone who oversees hardware teams. He’s also never worked at a car company.

Apple’s Watch Software Chief Takes Over Self-Driving Car Project

Apple Inc. appointed one of its top software executives, Kevin Lynch, to oversee its nascent self-driving car project after the previous leader left for Ford Motor Co.

www.bloomberg.com

Again. You’ll never see an apple car. There’s no such thing as a self driving car you can buy or will be able to. Tim’s whale. Money pit. Designed to mislead stakeholders.

 

[Pemberton_Malcolm]

Building cars is hard. They have to be reliable and safe. Selling them with US states prohibiting company owned dealerships creates difficulties. I am surprised Apple is trying to get into this business as it is far removed from their core computing/UI focus. I hope they have figured it out as I would be interested.

EVs have many fewer moving parts compared to an ICE vehicle but the mechanical and electrical engineering still required in an EV is massive.

did you post that as a parody?

That is almost word for word, what people said about the phone business. Apple has no experience dealing with thousands of telecom carriers, telecom providers. Nokia has contacts with AT&T, Verizon, and thousands of other telecom companies.

Apple has zero phone numbers or contacts with phone dealers, phone sellers, and cellular plan providers. Zero.

Apple will die on that hill.

Nokia and Blackberry will bury Apple.

Apple should stick to computers. Apple has zero track record in the cellular phone industry.

 

[Pemberton_Malcolm]

That's Apple's M.O., actually. They're always behind the curve, but usually wind up synthesizing the tech better than other companies and setting a new standard. That said, I'm not sure how well an Apple car will sell. Perhaps $64 million is realistic, if the cars are priced near the six-figure range.

Yes.

Look at the first iPhone. Compare it to the iPhone 4.

Look at the first iPad. Compare it to the iPad 4.

If... If there is ever an iCar, just compare it to the iCar 4. You will see a HUGE improvement over the first generation.

Apple waits, then copies, then improves. You do not see a folding/rolling iPhone… yet. Because it’s too early.

On the other hand, to be fair and balanced, Apple also has many products that never reached a “Version 4” because it died after one or two generations. Microsoft has the same track record (phones, music players, tablets). The iCar might grow or it might die. The future is difficult to predict.

Tesla was supposed to die in 2019.

The iPad was supposed to be a failure, when it was first sold, remember?

 

[matrix07]

I wonder if home appliances will be next.

They definitely should do basic HomeKit products, like switches, outlets and locks, themselves.

 

[jasoncarle]

that are all pining for these opportunities.

If the reports are to be believed, none of them are pining for this contract.

 

[briloronmacrumo]

Virtually everything you’ve said could have been applied to the phone market before iPhone.

Maybe, but when iPhone hardware( except for battery issues ) fails it's usually a trip to a repair shop with no human injuries or fatalities. Any failures by any car components ( wheels, brakes, structure etc. ) can be fatal. Plus the safety regulations for vehicles are significantly tougher than those for cell phones.

 

[NorthernSkyLights]

Apple was the one company that certainly could've competed with Tesla, but clearly you (and most people on Macrumors to be honest) really don't know hot far ahead Tesla is. This isn't like making a phone. There's a reason there's still no true competitor to what Tesla does...

I’m not doubting there ahead. Though it does not mean there can’t be competition. Or there wouldn’t be other automobiles making EV. Everyone got to start some where.

 

[SFjohn]

I find it amusing that the graphics for an alleged Apple car, are the shape of a steering wheel w/an Apple logo inside. When Apple finally releases an Apple Car, there will be no steering wheel inside it.

 

[xdxdaustin]

Virtually everything you’ve said could have been applied to the phone market before iPhone. Hard, need to be reliable and safe, require partnerships with telecoms to sell or they’re just a fancy brick, it’s a phone, not a computer, so apple should stick to what they know.

Tesla considers their cars to be robots. I think people need to stop thinking of cars like the crude vehicles we’ve known for the past century to understand what apple is doing. Phones dramatically changed because of apple. Cars will, too.

you have just won the comments section my friend 👏🏽

 

[DonutHands]

Should have purchased Tesla and made Elon Apple's CEO

 

[Kierkegaarden]

If the reports are to be believed, none of them are pining for this contract.

I’m referring to electronics manufacturers pining for the opportunity to build an EV. Foxconn has said this, and I’m sure the others would want this business as well.

I think you’re confusing vehicle manufacturers vs electronics manufacturers — Apple may go with the latter, and I’m sure any of them would love their business.

 

[jasoncarle]

I’m referring to electronics manufacturers pining for the opportunity to build an EV. Foxconn has said this, and I’m sure the others would want this business as well.

I think you’re confusing vehicle manufacturers vs electronics manufacturers — Apple may go with the latter, and I’m sure any of them would love their business.

Do you own a Tesla? Know anyone who does? Ask them what the ownership experience is like. Ask them if they think the quality and materials are commensurate with the price of the thing. Ask them what happens when the thing needs maintenance...

Building a car is tough. It also involves a lot more than bolting parts together. Car manufacturers know this, they have the supply networks and institutional knowledge. Tesla does not. Apple has less. No electronics maker has the ability to build a car anyone would want to own.

When I was shopping Electric cars, there is a reason I went with an Audi e-tron and not a Tesla.

Apple is only doing this alone because no car manufacturer wants to work with them. 1 of 2 things will happen. Apple will spend a **** ton of money and release something that is awful in every way. Or, Apple will go broke trying to make a car by themselves.

What they should do is save that money and stick to integrating WITH other electric car manufacturers much like Google has done with new Volvos.

last edit I swear...

The only thing I don't like about Google integration into vehicles, and every car with Android Auto has this "feature," is the data sharing with Google that has to take place. This is the reason Porsche refused Android Auto in their cars for so long.

 

[Virinprew]

Virtually everything you’ve said could have been applied to the phone market before iPhone. Hard, need to be reliable and safe, require partnerships with telecoms to sell or they’re just a fancy brick, it’s a phone, not a computer, so apple should stick to what they know.

Tesla considers their cars to be robots. I think people need to stop thinking of cars like the crude vehicles we’ve known for the past century to understand what apple is doing. Phones dramatically changed because of apple. Cars will, too.

It’s a different scale of hardness. They will have to design the suspension, seats, huge battery management, motor, transmission, steering, sound isolation, safety features, service center, manufacturing facilities, huge supply chain, distribution channel, regulations, testing, train their genius people etc. And the last barrier, PRICE. Good luck with that. I’m looking forward to the bigger battery upgrade (from 300 miles to 350 miles) for $50k. And from 300 miles to 400 miles for just $100k.

 

[dampfnudel]

I’m still surprised Apple is doing this. It’s such a difficult industry to jump into for a company with absolutely no experience and the vast amount of resources Apple will need and the high risks involved…