Apple will have a hand in every detail of the 'Apple Car,' analysts say

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in AAPL Investors
Apple's car strategy will likely focus on vertical integration, with the company having a hand in virtually every aspect of the "Apple Car," Morgan Stanley analysts said.

Credit: AppleInsider
Credit: AppleInsider


In a note to investors seen by AppleInsider, Morgan Stanley analysts Adam Jonas and Katy Huberty discussed rumors of Apple's automotive ambitions, how the company could implement its strategy into such a vehicle, and the legacy of Apple CEO Tim Cook.

On the potential for Apple to release some type of vehicle product or production car, Huberty notes that Apple has been focused on autonomous vehicle technology for years. Unlike other companies, Apple takes its time on new products so that it gets it right, the analyst added.

"The strategy is about doing fewer things, but doing them really well, and increasing the chances of success. And so, as you said, it was years ago that we first started picking up data points that Apple would enter the auto market, and we felt it was real," Huberty said.

She also likened the current automotive market to other markets that Apple has done well in -- including PCs.

"When you think about what will differentiate the car of the future, it's certainly being creative around new supply chains. It's about vertical integration of different components, hardware design, software, and ultimately, the services that can be delivered in that automobile," Huberty said. "It's about consumer trust and credibility, and certainly brand when it comes to a consumer product. And all of those categories are ones where Apple is a leader."

Vertical integration will likely be a vital component of the "Apple Car." Huberty says that Apple's strategy will likely see the company having a hand in details such as the vehicle's design, software and hardware communications, and even the car's internal components and technologies.

Going forward, it's likely that Apple will focus on bringing services to the "Apple Car" and creating a new user base. However, Huberty cautions against putting "the cart before the horse."
Yes, there will be an important element around what services will become available in an automobile once the driver's focus and attention is freed up, but first they have to get the car right. You and I have debated this before. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple comes to market with an EV, right? A car that looks similar to automobiles that are on the market today with a steering wheel. They did this with the iPhone where in the first iPhone, there was no app store. It was first about getting the hardware right.
At another point during the conversation, Jonas asked Huberty about how Steve Jobs would view Apple today. In response, Huberty said that she believes Tim Cook has "done a pretty phenomenal job allowing for Steve's legacy to carry on."

The analyst says that Cook has led Apple with design and innovation in mind -- two things that Jobs was famous for. However, Cook has also "layered in" other aspects like executive, scaling, and skills related to his time as Apple's supply chain chief.

"So, I think if Steve was looking down, he would be very proud of the way that Tim has built his own legacy while protecting the culture and the differentiation around design and innovation that Steve started," Huberty said.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 39
    It's a CAR SERVICE. You subscribe. Access to certain amount of hours or types of vehicles. It's for urban markets. It will save you the waste of paying for a car that mainly sits in your driveway most of its life. These isn't a more wasteful and 19th century technology and system in place than automobiles right now.
    fastasleepsteveaupatchythepirate
  • Reply 2 of 39
    I wonder what other services can Apple supply beside CarPlay and CarKey? Maybe CarTag in case a car is stolen?
  • Reply 3 of 39
    dk49dk49 Posts: 284member
    "Apple will have a hand in every detail of the 'Apple Car,' analysts say" - this is obvious, and I said the same thing on AI maybe a year back on a related Apple car post. Apple likes to control each and every part of its products. We don't need analysts to figure that out.
    JWSCbyronlleavingthebigg
  • Reply 4 of 39
    Has there ever been a more obvious statement in the history of obvious statements?
    JWSCdk49byronlbaconstangrobabaleavingthebigg
  • Reply 5 of 39
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,453member
    dk49 said:
    "Apple will have a hand in every detail of the 'Apple Car,' analysts say" - this is obvious, and I said the same thing on AI maybe a year back on a related Apple car post. Apple likes to control each and every part of its products. We don't need analysts to figure that out.
    Hey, at least she’s not one of the idiots thinking Apple’s just gonna sell carOS to other manufacturers. 
  • Reply 6 of 39
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    mr lizard said:
    Has there ever been a more obvious statement in the history of obvious statements?
    No there hasn’t.  Any one of the AI staff and many of its readers could have written the same fluff.  But they get paid for it.  So good on them I suppose.
    edited August 2021
  • Reply 7 of 39
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    It's a CAR SERVICE. You subscribe. Access to certain amount of hours or types of vehicles. It's for urban markets. It will save you the waste of paying for a car that mainly sits in your driveway most of its life. These isn't a more wasteful and 19th century technology and system in place than automobiles right now.
    Transport service will be a thing for many, predominantly younger, city dwellers.   But not everyone is going to groove with resting on a seat back that 100 other people have sat on earlier in the day.  Not everyone will gravitate to what is basically public transport.  And (shocker) not everyone lives in a city.

    I struggle with envisioning Apple targeting a shared transport device, when the entire history of their products largely revolves around personal devices.  Tesla is firing on all cylinders (oh the irony in that pun) and we see no sign of them considering public transport, although the Boring Company has demonstrated Teslas as tunnel transport units.  The only organizations interest in public transport are municipalities.  Are we really expecting Apple to tailor their automotive offering to public officials?  Seriously?!!
  • Reply 8 of 39
    Does anyone know if the “apple car” is EV or ICE from the start? I remember Tesla was not that big before Model 3 and apple car was started to rumour around that time. 
  • Reply 9 of 39
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    viclauyyc said:
    Does anyone know if the “apple car” is EV or ICE from the start? I remember Tesla was not that big before Model 3 and apple car was started to rumour around that time. 
    How would anyone know that?  There is no Apple Car available to buy and Apple do not talk about products in development.
  • Reply 10 of 39
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,453member
    viclauyyc said:
    Does anyone know if the “apple car” is EV or ICE from the start? I remember Tesla was not that big before Model 3 and apple car was started to rumour around that time. 
    You honestly think Apple would put out a hydrocarbon-burning vehicle? Seriously?
    byronltht
  • Reply 11 of 39
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,453member
    JWSC said:

    The only organizations interest in public transport are municipalities.  Are we really expecting Apple to tailor their automotive offering to public officials?  Seriously?!!
    I’m guessing you live in the sticks, but have you ever heard of Uber or Lyft? 

    You should read through more of the patents Apple has been registering over the past five years. There are plenty that easily suggest automated rideshare use cases for the technology. But, also many that are geared towards manual personal vehicles as well. Both can be true, especially at this point while they’re still deep in R&D. 
    byronl
  • Reply 12 of 39
    byronlbyronl Posts: 377member
    It's a CAR SERVICE. You subscribe. Access to certain amount of hours or types of vehicles. It's for urban markets. It will save you the waste of paying for a car that mainly sits in your driveway most of its life. These isn't a more wasteful and 19th century technology and system in place than automobiles right now.
    i agree but tesla is so far ahead in self driving how will apple compete. i’m sure they can outdo tesla in interior design and quality but they need the self driving.
    patchythepirate
  • Reply 13 of 39
    byronlbyronl Posts: 377member
    viclauyyc said:
    Does anyone know if the “apple car” is EV or ICE from the start? I remember Tesla was not that big before Model 3 and apple car was started to rumour around that time. 
    OBVIOUSLY ev. it would be incredibly idiotic for apple to do an ICE car 
  • Reply 14 of 39
    byronlbyronl Posts: 377member
    JWSC said:
    It's a CAR SERVICE. You subscribe. Access to certain amount of hours or types of vehicles. It's for urban markets. It will save you the waste of paying for a car that mainly sits in your driveway most of its life. These isn't a more wasteful and 19th century technology and system in place than automobiles right now.
    Transport service will be a thing for many, predominantly younger, city dwellers.   But not everyone is going to groove with resting on a seat back that 100 other people have sat on earlier in the day.  Not everyone will gravitate to what is basically public transport.  And (shocker) not everyone lives in a city.

    I struggle with envisioning Apple targeting a shared transport device, when the entire history of their products largely revolves around personal devices.  Tesla is firing on all cylinders (oh the irony in that pun) and we see no sign of them considering public transport, although the Boring Company has demonstrated Teslas as tunnel transport units.  The only organizations interest in public transport are municipalities.  Are we really expecting Apple to tailor their automotive offering to public officials?  Seriously?!!
    it’s basically uber or lyft, but A LOT cheaper, without a driver. about 0.18-0.25$ per mile. will DEFINITELY be a hit and reduce ownership of cars 
    patchythepirate
  • Reply 15 of 39
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,453member
    byronl said:
    It's a CAR SERVICE. You subscribe. Access to certain amount of hours or types of vehicles. It's for urban markets. It will save you the waste of paying for a car that mainly sits in your driveway most of its life. These isn't a more wasteful and 19th century technology and system in place than automobiles right now.
    i agree but tesla is so far ahead in self driving how will apple compete. i’m sure they can outdo tesla in interior design and quality but they need the self driving.
    “We’ve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.”

    baconstang
  • Reply 16 of 39
    baconstangbaconstang Posts: 1,158member
    Vertical integration for horizontal transportation?  

    So what really makes them think Apple would want control of the software AND the hardware?   When have they ever done that before?
    edited August 2021
  • Reply 17 of 39
    GeeAyeGeeAye Posts: 39unconfirmed, member
    byronl said:
    It's a CAR SERVICE. You subscribe. Access to certain amount of hours or types of vehicles. It's for urban markets. It will save you the waste of paying for a car that mainly sits in your driveway most of its life. These isn't a more wasteful and 19th century technology and system in place than automobiles right now.
    i agree but tesla is so far ahead in self driving how will apple compete. i’m sure they can outdo tesla in interior design and quality but they need the self driving.

    Isn't that what they said about blackberry in the smart phone market?
  • Reply 18 of 39
    I’ll wait for the apple car pro … 
    nadriel
  • Reply 19 of 39
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    byronl said:
    JWSC said:
    It's a CAR SERVICE. You subscribe. Access to certain amount of hours or types of vehicles. It's for urban markets. It will save you the waste of paying for a car that mainly sits in your driveway most of its life. These isn't a more wasteful and 19th century technology and system in place than automobiles right now.
    Transport service will be a thing for many, predominantly younger, city dwellers.   But not everyone is going to groove with resting on a seat back that 100 other people have sat on earlier in the day.  Not everyone will gravitate to what is basically public transport.  And (shocker) not everyone lives in a city.

    I struggle with envisioning Apple targeting a shared transport device, when the entire history of their products largely revolves around personal devices.  Tesla is firing on all cylinders (oh the irony in that pun) and we see no sign of them considering public transport, although the Boring Company has demonstrated Teslas as tunnel transport units.  The only organizations interest in public transport are municipalities.  Are we really expecting Apple to tailor their automotive offering to public officials?  Seriously?!!
    it’s basically uber or lyft, but A LOT cheaper, without a driver. about 0.18-0.25$ per mile. will DEFINITELY be a hit and reduce ownership of cars 
    Yes, there’s the Uber/Lyft model.  Not going to sell millions nor make huge margin on those vehicles though.  The margins are going to be in individual sales.
  • Reply 20 of 39
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    GeeAye said:
    byronl said:
    It's a CAR SERVICE. You subscribe. Access to certain amount of hours or types of vehicles. It's for urban markets. It will save you the waste of paying for a car that mainly sits in your driveway most of its life. These isn't a more wasteful and 19th century technology and system in place than automobiles right now.
    i agree but tesla is so far ahead in self driving how will apple compete. i’m sure they can outdo tesla in interior design and quality but they need the self driving.
    Isn't that what they said about blackberry in the smart phone market?
    Did you watch AI Day?  If not then stop what you’re doing and watch now.  It’s jaw dropping.

    What Tesla has done is every bit as mind blowing, if not more so, than what Apple did with development of the M1.  The network effects of Tesla’s hundreds of millions of miles on the road has yielded incredible detail in mapping.  Tesla has created a super scalar computer core to teach its driving AI, and it using all those millions of miles in the data set.

    Tesla is way ahead in their electric motor design.  Have you seen Plaid in action?

    Let’s not forget their massive injection molding machines that can fabricate large parts of the chassis like no other auto manufacturer in the world.

    Tabless batteries.  Can’t forget those.  Fewer parts.  Improved reliability.  Better range.

    Apple is capable of coming out with a good product with great UI and human factors design.  But besting Tesla overall?  I don’t know.  Tesla ain’t no BlackBerry.
    edited August 2021 anantksundarambyronlpatchythepirate
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