Toyota president tells Apple to prepare for the long-haul with 'Apple Car'
Toyota President Akio Toyoda said that if an "Apple Car" becomes a reality, the Cupertino company should prepare for at least 40 years of service and support.
Toyota's President weighed in on Apple's expected entry into the auto industry
In a news conference on Thursday in his role as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Mr. Toyoda said that he welcomed Apple's entry into the auto business, but added that the Cupertino company had better brace itself for the long haul.
"Anyone can make a car if they have the technical ability," said Mr. Toyoda. "But, once they make a car, I hope they'll recognize they have to steel themselves for 40 years of responding to customers and to various changes."
"Technology companies entering the car industry means that the car industry has a future, and choices for customers will widen," Toyoda continued. "We welcome new entries, but I don't think it would be fair for those people who are newly entering to say, 'We don't need to steel ourselves for 40 years, and you other folks who have been around for many years, you do that.'"
Rumors have long pointed to Apple entering the auto industry. It would allegedly be a fully-featured self-driving electric vehicle that will compete with Tesla and other EVs. Apple could partner with other popular manufacturers like Hyundai or BMW or seek another option.
Investors say the "Apple Car" is a matter of "when and not if." An automated electric car from Apple could generate an estimated $50 billion by 2030.
An "Apple Car" could reportedly arrive as early as 2024
Apple is confirmed to have been in partnership talks with established automakers. In January, Hyundai took the unusual step of confirming it was in negotiations with Apple. The public comments led to Apple reportedly pausing talks due to the lack of discretion. Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia then attempted to distance themselves from those comments.
While negotiations were ongoing, further reports surfaced claiming Hyundai bosses were "agonizing" over the project. The automaker allegedly considered handing the project over to Kia to help minimize any impact to the Hyundai brand from becoming a manufacturer of vehicles for other companies.
Hyundai is not the only potential partner for Apple for the "Apple Car," with the iPhone maker putting feelers out in other locations. It has allegedly held talks with carmakers in Japan, and UK MPs have also shown interest in bringing production to the country.
This isn't the first time established industry heavyweights have issued warnings to Apple with perhaps a hint of condescension as the Cupertino company enters a new market. After Apple announced the first iPhone, Microsoft's CEO at the time, Steve Ballmer, said, "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance." At the time, Microsoft was pushing its Windows Mobile operating system.
Motorola's CTO also commented at the time, saying, "There is nothing revolutionary or disruptive about any of the technologies. Touch interface, movement sensors, accelerometer, morphing, gesture recognition, 2-megapixel camera, built-in MP3 player, WiFi, Bluetooth, are already available in products from leaders in the mobile industry."
An "Apple Car" wouldn't likely release until 2024 or later.
Toyota's President weighed in on Apple's expected entry into the auto industry
In a news conference on Thursday in his role as chairman of the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Mr. Toyoda said that he welcomed Apple's entry into the auto business, but added that the Cupertino company had better brace itself for the long haul.
"Anyone can make a car if they have the technical ability," said Mr. Toyoda. "But, once they make a car, I hope they'll recognize they have to steel themselves for 40 years of responding to customers and to various changes."
"Technology companies entering the car industry means that the car industry has a future, and choices for customers will widen," Toyoda continued. "We welcome new entries, but I don't think it would be fair for those people who are newly entering to say, 'We don't need to steel ourselves for 40 years, and you other folks who have been around for many years, you do that.'"
Rumors have long pointed to Apple entering the auto industry. It would allegedly be a fully-featured self-driving electric vehicle that will compete with Tesla and other EVs. Apple could partner with other popular manufacturers like Hyundai or BMW or seek another option.
Investors say the "Apple Car" is a matter of "when and not if." An automated electric car from Apple could generate an estimated $50 billion by 2030.
An "Apple Car" could reportedly arrive as early as 2024
Apple is confirmed to have been in partnership talks with established automakers. In January, Hyundai took the unusual step of confirming it was in negotiations with Apple. The public comments led to Apple reportedly pausing talks due to the lack of discretion. Hyundai and its subsidiary Kia then attempted to distance themselves from those comments.
While negotiations were ongoing, further reports surfaced claiming Hyundai bosses were "agonizing" over the project. The automaker allegedly considered handing the project over to Kia to help minimize any impact to the Hyundai brand from becoming a manufacturer of vehicles for other companies.
Hyundai is not the only potential partner for Apple for the "Apple Car," with the iPhone maker putting feelers out in other locations. It has allegedly held talks with carmakers in Japan, and UK MPs have also shown interest in bringing production to the country.
This isn't the first time established industry heavyweights have issued warnings to Apple with perhaps a hint of condescension as the Cupertino company enters a new market. After Apple announced the first iPhone, Microsoft's CEO at the time, Steve Ballmer, said, "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance." At the time, Microsoft was pushing its Windows Mobile operating system.
Motorola's CTO also commented at the time, saying, "There is nothing revolutionary or disruptive about any of the technologies. Touch interface, movement sensors, accelerometer, morphing, gesture recognition, 2-megapixel camera, built-in MP3 player, WiFi, Bluetooth, are already available in products from leaders in the mobile industry."
An "Apple Car" wouldn't likely release until 2024 or later.
Comments
Supporting a phone or computer for 5-10 years is not comparable to supporting something for up to 4 decades. His caution is about understanding the requirement for a much longer timeframe of support.
As for 40 years...yeah no. If I had a car from 1981 I think all bets for readily available parts are off, and I'd be prepared to work w/ a specialist/collector's mechanic. Now w/ EVs who knows how that will work...but that certainly isn't unique to Apple.
And (amusingly) it can crop up with some legacy car makers for certain models - Ford ran out of climate control parts for one family of pickups a few years back - during the warranty period.
Since all of us thought of just this issue off the top of our heads years ago (Toyoda didn't have to tell us that), I'd say it's highly likely Tim Cook et al did also.
As for 40 years... yeah but yeah. Using your example, I went to Toyota Parts and put in 1981 Corolla. https://parts.toyota.com/Toyota_1981_Corolla.html ; Toyota's are utilitarian every-man vehicles. Rarely ever would one require a specialist.
AND / OR
they will offer complimentary mobility products for sale that WILL be much closer to the size and lifespan of their usual products - for example e-scooters.
1. PCs: selling them since the 1970s. 8% market share in 2020, usually lower.
2. smartphones: practically invented the market in 2007. Usually 15% market share.
3. tablets: again, invented the market in 2010. Usually 35% market share.
4. Apple Watch: basically invented the market in 2015, 50% market share.
5. Apple Music: at best #3 in music streaming to Spotify and YouTube. Tidal, Amazon Music and Pandora are still around.
6. AirPod. Didn't invent the market - Samsung did - but despite great mindshare and profit margin but everyone else - Sony, Bose, Anker, JBL, Samsung and a host of others - have had no problems competing and even driving innovation here.
And those are the successes. Not as successful:
7. HomePod. Less than 3 million units of the original since 2018, practically no one talks about the Mini.
8. Apple TV. Apple (again) invented this category in 2007 and are in 4th place behind Roku, Fire TV and the various Android TV devices. The gap between #3 and #4 is so big that they may even be behind smart TV-only platforms like Samsung, LG and Opera.
9. Apple Arcade. The last time you heard anyone talking about it was when exactly? If it had a fraction of the regular users that xCloud and Nvidia GeForce Now does we would have heard about it. The last real news from this effort was Apple ending commitments with publishers (fulfilling certain financial obligations but maintaining the exclusivity, preventing the games from ever being released anywhere).
10. Apple TV+. Launched 18 months ago and is basically giving it away.
This "Apple, destroyer of competition" thing isn't true at all. The only place where it has been true is the iPod. And no, it wasn't the iPhone that crushed Blackberry, Nokia, Java JMS and Windows Mobile. If you have 15% market share you can't crush anyone. It is Android and their 85% market share that killed off everyone else. Just like it was Microsoft who crushed everyone else in the PC market (until Google was able to parlay their Android and Chrome browser success into some ChromeOS market share).
Yeah except this article is about 40 years, because that's what Toyota guy said. I don't know anyone who expects to find readily available parts for a 40-year-old model. But I'm sure every EV maker will figure out what is needed. These aren't Mars landers.