dk49

Technical and legal challenges aside, a car without a steering wheel will be a bit boring for many people like me who enjoy driving. While I am all for autonomous driving, and I think it's really cool, I wouldn't want to use it all the time. Sometimes you just want to enjoy the pleasure of driving. It gives you a sense of excitement and adrenaline rush. Though I am sure there will be enough items in the Apple car to keep me entertained and busy, but I would still like to have the option to drive it sometimes. 

I don't know understand how these Analyst give such numbers without giving any explanation regarding the business model? Yesterday's report said Apple was targetting the enterprise space. Which most likely means Apple will not be selling these vehicles, but rather use them to provide a taxi type service. That means it will take quite some time to recover the high cost of these vehicles, let alone generate a profit!

ca_mac_mini said:

Everyone is forgetting Apple invested $1B in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing in May of 2016.  
Apple car will initially roll out as autonomous ride sharing service in China. 

Are you saying that Didi Chuxing will buy all these autonomous vehicles from Apple? I don't think so. Because that will be very capital intensive for Didi Chuxing. Their ROI will take a long time. 

byronl said:

dk49 said:

wood1208 
 And even then, they might be at a disadvantage (as compared to Tesla Robotaxis), because unlike Tesla, they will be owning all these vehicles, which will make this business very capital intensive for them. 

good point, i didn’t think of that. but the apple car would change to exactly how you wanted from info from your apple id. the seats, the lights, the content, the in-car displays would continue the show you were just watching. tesla won’t be able to have that type of customization for the most part. but tesla is also quickly building their ecosystem of apps. we’ll see. all i know is that the in-car experience of the apple car will be better. 

I agree that Apple Car will definitely provide a much better user experience than Tesla. But it will most likely be priced higher than Tesla's Robotaxis. So price sensitive consumers will likely choose Robotaxis, and Tesla might end up having higher market share, especially as they evolve their system to be a "smart" platform. And Google is already working towards that, so people with Android will have an advantage with Google based cars. Now you might say that Apple has never chased market share, but rather focused on high margins. And this is where I see a conflict. Since unlike Tesla, Apple will be owning these vehicles, their margins will be worse. In fact it might take a long time for them to even recover their costs. This is very un-apple in my opinion. 

wood1208 said:

Everything about Apple iCar is coming together one piece at a time. But it seems Apple wants to build robotaxi kind autonomous transport service. That may very well be true but I like to buy Apple iCar like i buy iPhone. Apple let's have Tesla vs GM vs whoever vs Apple EV option for consumers.

Apple might want a get into personal mobility. But I think they would first test waters in the enterprise space. If they get a good reception there, they might launch consumer cars for the masses. This will also give them more time to develop all the key components like platform, etc in house. Considering that Tesla's long term plan is Robotaxis, it makes sense for Apple to focus on that part first, and develop a car when the driverless AI is solid. In fact, they might launch the consumer car much later, and without a steering wheel. That was how Jony Ive first imagined and developed the design of the Apple Car. 

Though what doesn't make complete sense is their business model. They are going to produce 100,000 of these enterprise vehicles (and eventually 400,000/year as per the previous report). I doubt if the demand for enterprise is so high? The numbers don't make sense unless they want to enter the commercial taxi market with these vehicles. And even then, they might be at a disadvantage (as compared to Tesla Robotaxis), because unlike Tesla, they will be owning all these vehicles, which will make this business very capital intensive for them.