“On its face, a car seems like a disastrous thing for Apple Inc. to build. Cars are a brutally commodified, terrifically expensive, generally low-margin industry. Entering the car business is like getting into a land war,” Christopher Mims writes for The Wall Street Journal. “But the mounting evidence seems undeniable that Apple is forging ahead anyway, despite lack of confirmation from the company. Clearly, Apple thinks it has the chance to make a unique contribution to a category chockablock with ho-hum user experiences and barely differentiated models. Sort of like the phone industry before Apple crashed the party.”
“If you spend time examining the industry, it becomes apparent that transportation, more so than cars, is ripe for disruption in a way that could give Apple an opening,” Mims writes. “But reordering the status of a device as entrenched as an automobile—tied up as it is with vast public spending, the direct and indirect employment of tens of millions and layers of politics—isn’t something that happens overnight.”
Mims writes, “So here’s my first prediction about the Apple car: If Apple does go forward with it, the company is playing a long game, one that could easily span decades.”
Much more in the full article, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting an Apple Car,” here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in March:
When Apple enters markets, it’s because they can bring something(s) so unique to the table that significant disruption is inevitable.
SEE ALSO:
Apple Car: Tesla engineer joins Apple’s ‘Project Titan’ vehicle effort – August 21, 2015
Apple Car development proceeds apace – July 27, 2015
Apple hires veteran Fiat Chrysler auto industry executive – July 20, 2015
What’s up with Carl Icahn’s sudden obsession with the Apple Car? – May 18, 2015
Survey: 77% of hybrid or electric vehicle owners would likely buy an Apple Car – May 13, 2015
Apple Car: Forget ‘electric,’ think hydrogen fuel cells – February 20, 2015
Apple working with Intelligent Energy on fuel cell technology for mobile devices, sources say – July 14, 2014
North Carolina regulators approve Apple’s 4.8-megawatt fuel cell facility at Maiden data center – May 23, 2012
New aerial images of Apple’s planned NC fuel cell, solar farms published – April 7, 2012
Apple’s massive fuel cell energy project to be largest in the U.S. – April 4, 2012
Apple patent application reveals next-gen fuel cell powered Macs and iOS devices – December 22, 2011
Apple patent app details highly-advanced hydrogen fuel cells to power portable devices – October 20, 2011
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]