Whatever Apple is doing I'm sure they don't mind all the speculation. No one is talking about the new Galaxy phone coming in March. It's all speculating what Apple might be doing in the car space.
A car would be a gigantic leap into a strange new industry, but the iPod and iPhone were steps of that kind. The product category of personal computers that Apple was founded on is now a minority of its revenue. Apple is much bigger now and can take bigger steps. Becoming a car company would be very hard, but Apple has more cash than it took for the U.S. to put men on the moon. Is there a question whether Apple could be more successful than, say, John DeLorean? DeLorean's startup cost in adjusted dollars would be almost $900 million. DeLorean had car knowledge, but financially Apple can do things DeLorean couldn't have dreamed of. CarPlay may be what the Motorola iTunes phone was.
OMG Apple can't afford $900 million, they'd better stop spending so much on R&D and stop competing with Tesla/Google¡
Apple building its own car just doesn't sound right to me. I don't see Apple getting into that segment.
What I do see is Apple providing technology - besides CarPlay - that gets incorporated into cars. This could be a central media/technology dashboard, OS, package, whatever that takes integration to the next level.
A smart dashboard/display doing away with analog-type gauges. User-configurable panels? Personal Automotive Network (PAN)? Perhaps even some tech to allow self0-driving cars?? Stuff like that...
Building an entire car though? I don't see that happening.
Still very exciting to speculate what Apple's up to though.
I agree. I'm certainly an outlier on the issue, but there is very little about cars that excite me. They are transportation to me.
Self-driving cars aren't going to happen in my lifetime. And if I'm wrong, I for one will not only never buy one, but I would never get in one.
That said, I would like an electric car, if for no other reason than I can then say I don't ever need to buy another drop of gasoline from the evil oil companies. But the economics of electric cars still tips the decision from them. I don't have $35k to spend on an electric car; and the value isn't there for me (yet?)
No way Apple builds its own car. Apple likes to control everything it can. With cars, there are so many moving parts plus you have to work with the existing parts available.
I do think it may be working on a more integrated brain of the car. Using Touch ID to remote unlock or start a car among other options.
Essentially, they contract concept and design services with all sorts of business in different sectors (see the link), but don't actually manufacture anything (other than things in their own BMW and Mini lines)
Apple likely considers themselves a design business more than anything else (not to be dismissive of their insane skills in engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, marketing, retail etc...) It would be interesting to see Apple expand not only their design sensibility to various industry segments, but at the same time integrate the right hooks for their various OS's to enhance and leverage those efforts in an easy and supple way.
I just bought a hot tub a few months ago, from Hot Springs, but designed my BMW Designworks....
much nicer than most other spas out there, and frankly, was a factor for me in purchasing over less costly models.
No way Apple builds its own car. Apple likes to control everything it can. With cars, there are so many moving parts plus you have to work with the existing parts available.
I do think it may be working on a more integrated brain of the car. Using Touch ID to remote unlock or start a car among other options.
Someone posted this on The Verge. Food for thought. The FT report specifically said Jony Ive's design team was meeting with automotive designers and engineers. Is his design team involved with CarPlay?
I don’t get why people are surprised. Steve Jobs himself said he wanted to "take on detroit". Not surprised one bit that they would explore entering this market.
The reason I believe it will happen is because the automotive market is so massive, a small % of the market, with a high end product, can produce enormous profits. Similar to the iPhone model. Not to mention the inevitability of self-driving cars. The car is going to become a rolling "living" space, and you better believe Apple wants in on that space.
Going forward Apple is going to continue to look for areas of massive growth for the stock, and unless they annually sell 100+ million apple watches, I don’t see it moving their bottom line all that much. A car on the other hand, would easily add 20+ billion to the market cap if they can capture a tiny portion of the high-end market like I stated earlier.
Oh and it also doesn’t hurt that Eddie Cue is on Ferrari’s board of execs.
Whatever Apple is doing I'm sure they don't mind all the speculation. No one is talking about the new Galaxy phone coming in March. It's all speculating what Apple might be doing in the car space.
There is no way that Apple could build a universal hand-held mobile computing device that would meet the needs of all of its users. /s
Not the same thing at all.
I think Apple could make an entire car because they would control the entire process and it would be a single design. What I don't think they could do is provide the electronic systems for every model of car.
Many foreign brands of cars are assembled here in the U.S.A. Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Hyundai-Kia, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.
My guess is that Apple would have two factories: one in the USA and the other in the world's largest auto market...China. The ones made in the USA would be sold in the Americas and the ones made in Chine would be for everyone else. Ford and GM already have many plants in China and Chrysler contracts a Chinese car maker to make Jeeps for sale in China.
<span style="color:rgb(51,51,51);line-height:1.4em;">I believe Apple would partner with Ford, BMW or Tesla.</span>
Apple is a very conscience company. I could see them bringing Detroit back.
I don’t think Apple wants to get into cellphones. The profit margin is low (nobody would spend more than $75 for a cellphone) and you need a network of carriers to provide service. I don’t see Apple wanting to get into that mess of a mature, cutthroat market.
There, my time machine fixed it for you.
Beat me to it. I'm just having fun laughing at everyone with ZERO imagination!
Apple would never get into the MP3 player market either!! Low profit margins and no room for innovation!
The tablet market? Been dead for a decade!!
Home computers? FUGETABOUTIT!!
No one wants personal computers and they're an expensive gimmick!!! DIDNT the owner of IBM say there will only be 3 computers in the home??!!!!
There's a big difference between all car companies and a factory that builds to specifications. Why would any car company partner with Apple when Apple will get all the glory and the car company will just get tons of orders to build cars? No car company is currently structured to handle that or even want that type of business.
I know right?!!
It's like Samsung choosing to make more money from iPhone than their own product!!!
Samsung will NEVER provide parts for Apple because then Apple will get all the glory and Samsung would make more money from Apple than selling their own phones!!
Who wants that?!?!!
My suspicion is this is about something to go in to monitor or control other manufacturers' cars that choose to partner with Apple, not Apple building ?Cars as such.
I tend to agree that Apple could have a big impact across all car manufacturers while giving them some design flexibility for differentiation.
However, with all the unexplainable statements from Tesla's CEO Elon Musk, it could be that an Apple/Tesla deal failed to materialize and now Tesla is scared that Apple is coming after them. I mean, Elon completely forgot that he was on a Tesla financial report conference call and decided talk about Apple for no apparent reason. There has just got to be something there or Elon is completely nuts.
Apple is a very conscience company. I could see them bringing Detroit back.
Beat me to it. I'm just having fun laughing at everyone with ZERO imagination!
Apple would never get into the MP3 player market either!! Low profit margins and no room for innovation!
The tablet market? Been dead for a decade!!
Home computers? FUGETABOUTIT!!
No one wants personal computers and they're an expensive gimmick!!! DIDNT the owner of IBM say there will only be 3 computers in the home??!!!!
I know right?!!
It's like Samsung choosing to make more money from iPhone than their own product!!!
Samsung will NEVER provide parts for Apple because then Apple will get all the glory and Samsung would make more money from Apple than selling their own phones!!
Who wants that?!?!!
Samsung builds fabrication plants to service the needs of many companies. Car companies only build fabrication plants for their own products. It's a huge difference. The economies of scale are also much different. Samsung doesn't want to supply their competitors but Samsung makes a lot of money doing so. Car companies don't even make that much money building their own products.
Someone posted this on The Verge. Food for thought. The FT report specifically said Jony Ive's design team was meeting with automotive designers and engineers. Is his design team involved with CarPlay?
Not sure but isn't Ive in charge of software and hardware design? So they may have a hand in future releases.
Just because Apple is hiring automotive engineers with the expertise in designing and manufacturing cars doesn't mean Apple is going to make cars. All the top automotive suppliers (Valeo, Bosch, Siemens, Delphi, Hitachi, QNX, Continental, Dunlop....) who make all the components, sub-systems and modules in your car ALSO have automotive engineers on staff who would be the type of people you're looking for if you wanted to start manufacturing your own car.
Understanding EVERYTHING about automotive manufacturing is also key to a company who wants to supply systems to the companies who are ACTUALLY making cars. I think this is simply Apple trying to get a handle on the entire automotive manufacturing process, something they'd need to do if they wanted to develop a deeply integrated information/multimedia system.
And keep in mind what Apple does best - they look at how something is currently being done and look for ways to make it better for users. Apple isn't going to make sports cars handle better, luxury cars ride nicer or trucks haul better. But the information systems in these vehicles is an area that desperately needs improvement. And that's right up Apples alley.
There is a fundamental flaw in your argument, which is that whereas Apple might not be the master of all fields into which it sells products (although increasingly is ) it is the master of the products it offers. With CarPlay, Apple has practically no control. Integration is at the whim of manufacturers. This would be completely unacceptable to Apple. Apple is up to something bigger than vehicle infotainment systems and will field something over which it has complete control.
Comments
That's it....SPACE CARS!
OMG Apple can't afford $900 million, they'd better stop spending so much on R&D and stop competing with Tesla/Google¡
I wouldn't consider the Financial Times to be in the business of clickbait.
Apple building its own car just doesn't sound right to me. I don't see Apple getting into that segment.
What I do see is Apple providing technology - besides CarPlay - that gets incorporated into cars. This could be a central media/technology dashboard, OS, package, whatever that takes integration to the next level.
A smart dashboard/display doing away with analog-type gauges. User-configurable panels? Personal Automotive Network (PAN)? Perhaps even some tech to allow self0-driving cars?? Stuff like that...
Building an entire car though? I don't see that happening.
Still very exciting to speculate what Apple's up to though.
I agree. I'm certainly an outlier on the issue, but there is very little about cars that excite me. They are transportation to me.
Self-driving cars aren't going to happen in my lifetime. And if I'm wrong, I for one will not only never buy one, but I would never get in one.
That said, I would like an electric car, if for no other reason than I can then say I don't ever need to buy another drop of gasoline from the evil oil companies. But the economics of electric cars still tips the decision from them. I don't have $35k to spend on an electric car; and the value isn't there for me (yet?)
Ironically...YMMV...
I do think it may be working on a more integrated brain of the car. Using Touch ID to remote unlock or start a car among other options.
I believe the play here is very much what BMW does with it's Designworks group:
http://designworksusa.com/design/
Essentially, they contract concept and design services with all sorts of business in different sectors (see the link), but don't actually manufacture anything (other than things in their own BMW and Mini lines)
Apple likely considers themselves a design business more than anything else (not to be dismissive of their insane skills in engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, marketing, retail etc...) It would be interesting to see Apple expand not only their design sensibility to various industry segments, but at the same time integrate the right hooks for their various OS's to enhance and leverage those efforts in an easy and supple way.
I just bought a hot tub a few months ago, from Hot Springs, but designed my BMW Designworks....
much nicer than most other spas out there, and frankly, was a factor for me in purchasing over less costly models.
Someone posted this on The Verge. Food for thought. The FT report specifically said Jony Ive's design team was meeting with automotive designers and engineers. Is his design team involved with CarPlay?
Whatever Apple is doing I'm sure they don't mind all the speculation. No one is talking about the new Galaxy phone coming in March. It's all speculating what Apple might be doing in the car space.
Waaaiiiiit a second.
Samsung is introducing a new Galaxy in March?
Oh well in that case I am onboard.
Not the same thing at all.
I think Apple could make an entire car because they would control the entire process and it would be a single design. What I don't think they could do is provide the electronic systems for every model of car.
The perfect car has already been designed: http://www.chrisvandusen.com/books/if-i-built-a-car
Beat me to it. I'm just having fun laughing at everyone with ZERO imagination!
Apple would never get into the MP3 player market either!! Low profit margins and no room for innovation!
The tablet market? Been dead for a decade!!
Home computers? FUGETABOUTIT!!
No one wants personal computers and they're an expensive gimmick!!! DIDNT the owner of IBM say there will only be 3 computers in the home??!!!!
I know right?!!
It's like Samsung choosing to make more money from iPhone than their own product!!!
Samsung will NEVER provide parts for Apple because then Apple will get all the glory and Samsung would make more money from Apple than selling their own phones!!
Who wants that?!?!!
My suspicion is this is about something to go in to monitor or control other manufacturers' cars that choose to partner with Apple, not Apple building ?Cars as such.
I tend to agree that Apple could have a big impact across all car manufacturers while giving them some design flexibility for differentiation.
However, with all the unexplainable statements from Tesla's CEO Elon Musk, it could be that an Apple/Tesla deal failed to materialize and now Tesla is scared that Apple is coming after them. I mean, Elon completely forgot that he was on a Tesla financial report conference call and decided talk about Apple for no apparent reason. There has just got to be something there or Elon is completely nuts.
Elon Musk's 'insane' call: Tesla worth $700 billion
Samsung builds fabrication plants to service the needs of many companies. Car companies only build fabrication plants for their own products. It's a huge difference. The economies of scale are also much different. Samsung doesn't want to supply their competitors but Samsung makes a lot of money doing so. Car companies don't even make that much money building their own products.
Just what I need... pop-up adverts on my windshield, and Google tracking every make-out session.
Why the hell would that happen? Or do you think Apple is planning to give cars away for free, subsidized by ads?
Not sure but isn't Ive in charge of software and hardware design? So they may have a hand in future releases.
Just because Apple is hiring automotive engineers with the expertise in designing and manufacturing cars doesn't mean Apple is going to make cars. All the top automotive suppliers (Valeo, Bosch, Siemens, Delphi, Hitachi, QNX, Continental, Dunlop....) who make all the components, sub-systems and modules in your car ALSO have automotive engineers on staff who would be the type of people you're looking for if you wanted to start manufacturing your own car.
Understanding EVERYTHING about automotive manufacturing is also key to a company who wants to supply systems to the companies who are ACTUALLY making cars. I think this is simply Apple trying to get a handle on the entire automotive manufacturing process, something they'd need to do if they wanted to develop a deeply integrated information/multimedia system.
And keep in mind what Apple does best - they look at how something is currently being done and look for ways to make it better for users. Apple isn't going to make sports cars handle better, luxury cars ride nicer or trucks haul better. But the information systems in these vehicles is an area that desperately needs improvement. And that's right up Apples alley.
There is a fundamental flaw in your argument, which is that whereas Apple might not be the master of all fields into which it sells products (although increasingly is
Interesting times. All the best.
Could be.
CarPlay, iCar and iVan.