It's the numbers. 39% on an iPhone is what, $250? 12% on a $50,000 car is $6000 or so. Investors would be fine with 12% of $50,000.
But bear in mind that Apple sold 74,000,000 iPhones last quarter. That's 34,000 every hour of every day. Tesla sold 11,627 vehicles last quarter, or about as many iPhones as Apple sold every 20 minutes. There would be no money in making cars for Apple. And the development costs! A disaster!
And not for private ownership. Odds are an urban ride share vehicle. The numbers showing younger people's disinterest in owning a private car will play right into this. You use Apple Pay to sign up for an AppleCar you pick up on an as needed basis from a charging station just like all the bike share systems.
I like this idea. And around the time that Apple launches their car, the other big auto manufacturers will have financed the infrastructure for charging stations. Perfect timing as usual.
About the time it won't be safe for me to drive anymore (about 10 years?) I had been hoping self-driving cars would be available at a reasonable price. Now, at least, I may not have to give Google my money. Seriously, if Apple makes a car, I'm buying it. A logical progression: as I've gotten older my disposable income has increased to the point that buying every new thing Apple comes out with is doable. Now even a car could be part of my Apple hobby.
I've said here before that an iCar is not unlikely. Cars are becoming less about mechanics, grease, gas, oil, and contained explosions, and more about electronics and human interfaces. This is Apple territory. A people mover with space for some gear and/or grandkids (a stylish minivan) is just what old Apple geezers with time and money would buy.
If Apple can staff up for an automotive project, then they can staff up to work on the buggy iOS 8 and Yosemite releases.
When they do a bugfix-only OS release it's usually because the the software developers are busy with something else.
Snow Leopard (the last OS X bugfix release) came out in 2009 when they were busy adding the SDK to iPhone OS and getting the iPad ready. And now we will (yay!) get another OS X bugfix release because they have been so busy on the watch OS.
As for the Apple Car, the person above who suggested it would be a share car system sounds right to me. You can summon one of these cars on your iPhone and it will drive you somewhere automatically and charge you buy Apple Pay. If Jony Ive is doing the design I wonder if it will be inspired by the London taxi? They don't use normal cars for taxis over there but have a custom vehicle, which is very roomy and comfortable.
Do you imagine Apple would let a car be sold by a third party?
Well in some states, you do need third parties to sell cars by law.
I still don't buy this project. It'll take years before it ever sees the light of day. Apple will need to get in the tire business as I doubt they'll trust others to make tires for the car.
Do you imagine Apple would let a car be sold by a third party?
Tesla has not only taken on the car manufacturers, they've also had the cojones to take on the car dealer establishment which has turned out in a lot of ways to be the bigger challenge. It's one thing to compete on economics, but taking on the political machines in each of fifty states? Easier said than done.
It's a Ruse. It's an expensive trick to get Samsung started in their car, then they will stop the "project" and watch Samsung burn through all of their cash to come out with a mediocre product.
I've said here before that an iCar is not unlikely. Cars are becoming less about mechanics, grease, gas, oil, and contained explosions, and more about electronics and human interfaces. This is Apple territory. A people mover with space for some gear and/or grandkids (a stylish minivan) is just what old Apple geezers with time and money would buy.
Have you seen the engine in a Tesla electric car before? It's that cylinder between the rear wheels, that's the whole thing! Grease, oil and contained explosions are definitely on the way out.
About the time it won't be safe for me to drive anymore (about 10 years?)
I have been thinking along the same lines for a while now. I'm thinking of buying a new house closer to town where I can easily get an Uber or even walk to the grocery store or the mall. I'm already building a new home in Panama with the same closeness to the stores for tercera edad convenience - about 1km walk to the grocery store and the bank. Good for exercise. Those will probably be my last two houses.
I'll lose all respect for them if they are designing an electric Minivan.
You will probably change your tune if it sells millions of units. I'm not saying that I think they will release a minivan, but if they do, it will be a minivan like you have never seen.
Why is it assumed the vans that have been spotted aren't related? If you want to build a self driving/self navigating car, you need pretty precise data. When a person is driving, it's okay if the navigator doesn't 100% match the destination (how many times have you arrived at the destination but the navigator thinks you aren't there yet), when a computer is driving, you better make sure it knows where that destination is.
Nothing can move Apple's revenue needle, certainly not ?WATCH. Let's think. Oh. Car. Oh my goodness. 50Kx3MM a year, that ought to mount to something. Plus it is EV, kind of like a new start. Makes tons of sense.
This may very well be the "we're working on stuff that hasn't even been rumored about yet" thing that Cook mentioned a while back.
Pretty fucking exciting. I used to believe that it would be complete absurd for Apple to get into the car industry, but my views have changed. I see them as more capable, open-minded, and versatile now than they've ever been. Not to mention they have the brand name, commitment, skill, motivation, and least of all, the cash. They can overturn or at least be extremely successful in whatever market they choose to enter.
I can see it now, I'll buy the pro version, three years later it will be discontinued ....
Comments
It's the numbers. 39% on an iPhone is what, $250? 12% on a $50,000 car is $6000 or so. Investors would be fine with 12% of $50,000.
But bear in mind that Apple sold 74,000,000 iPhones last quarter. That's 34,000 every hour of every day. Tesla sold 11,627 vehicles last quarter, or about as many iPhones as Apple sold every 20 minutes. There would be no money in making cars for Apple. And the development costs! A disaster!
And not for private ownership. Odds are an urban ride share vehicle. The numbers showing younger people's disinterest in owning a private car will play right into this. You use Apple Pay to sign up for an AppleCar you pick up on an as needed basis from a charging station just like all the bike share systems.
I like this idea. And around the time that Apple launches their car, the other big auto manufacturers will have financed the infrastructure for charging stations. Perfect timing as usual.
I've said here before that an iCar is not unlikely. Cars are becoming less about mechanics, grease, gas, oil, and contained explosions, and more about electronics and human interfaces. This is Apple territory. A people mover with space for some gear and/or grandkids (a stylish minivan) is just what old Apple geezers with time and money would buy.
If Apple can staff up for an automotive project, then they can staff up to work on the buggy iOS 8 and Yosemite releases.
When they do a bugfix-only OS release it's usually because the the software developers are busy with something else.
Snow Leopard (the last OS X bugfix release) came out in 2009 when they were busy adding the SDK to iPhone OS and getting the iPad ready. And now we will (yay!) get another OS X bugfix release because they have been so busy on the watch OS.
As for the Apple Car, the person above who suggested it would be a share car system sounds right to me. You can summon one of these cars on your iPhone and it will drive you somewhere automatically and charge you buy Apple Pay. If Jony Ive is doing the design I wonder if it will be inspired by the London taxi? They don't use normal cars for taxis over there but have a custom vehicle, which is very roomy and comfortable.
Well in some states, you do need third parties to sell cars by law.
I still don't buy this project. It'll take years before it ever sees the light of day. Apple will need to get in the tire business as I doubt they'll trust others to make tires for the car.
On cars? On cars?
Do you imagine Apple would let a car be sold by a third party?
Tesla has not only taken on the car manufacturers, they've also had the cojones to take on the car dealer establishment which has turned out in a lot of ways to be the bigger challenge. It's one thing to compete on economics, but taking on the political machines in each of fifty states? Easier said than done.
It's a Ruse. It's an expensive trick to get Samsung started in their car, then they will stop the "project" and watch Samsung burn through all of their cash to come out with a mediocre product.
I've said here before that an iCar is not unlikely. Cars are becoming less about mechanics, grease, gas, oil, and contained explosions, and more about electronics and human interfaces. This is Apple territory. A people mover with space for some gear and/or grandkids (a stylish minivan) is just what old Apple geezers with time and money would buy.
Have you seen the engine in a Tesla electric car before? It's that cylinder between the rear wheels, that's the whole thing! Grease, oil and contained explosions are definitely on the way out.
About the time it won't be safe for me to drive anymore (about 10 years?)
I have been thinking along the same lines for a while now. I'm thinking of buying a new house closer to town where I can easily get an Uber or even walk to the grocery store or the mall. I'm already building a new home in Panama with the same closeness to the stores for tercera edad convenience - about 1km walk to the grocery store and the bank. Good for exercise. Those will probably be my last two houses.
I suspect the minivan is collecting data for the system.
Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) tweeted at 5:49pm - 13 Feb 15:
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes please. wsj.com/articles/apple… (
I'll lose all respect for them if they are designing an electric Minivan.
You will probably change your tune if it sells millions of units. I'm not saying that I think they will release a minivan, but if they do, it will be a minivan like you have never seen.
And Tesla is suing New Jersey over that (and will win), because there’s no way it’s legal.
Why do u think they're using inflatable wheels?
Will the silliness never end?
“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” -- Mark Twain.
I can see it now, I'll buy the pro version, three years later it will be discontinued ....
ROFL