Apple is an iconic brand and one of the most successful technology companies around. Its annual sales are a little over $382 billion while its market value is $3.49 trillion. This makes Apple the most valuable company in the world. Its product lineup includes some of the most successful, loved, and adorable devices.
The success of Apple is not merely a corporate success; its success encompasses the emotions it creates among its customers. Owning an Apple device is not only about the most expensive device that you own. It’s more about the quality, technologies, and class of the product. It’s respecting the effort and the passion that has gone into designing such exquisite devices such as an iPhone, or a Macbook.
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The current Apple CEO has been able to steer the company well after the demise of Steve Jobs. That’s another great thing for Apple.
What If Apple Brings Its Car?
When a company as popular as Apple comes up with an electric vehicle, the response from the people is going to be tremendous. This goes without saying. That said, we must admit that electric vehicles are still not a mainstream thing although they have all the potential to take the world by storm.
And, Apple is not coming up with just an EV, it’s coming up with a driverless EV. That’s what the industry grapevine said a few years back. It’s possible that Apple would introduce other kinds of vehicles as well. Overall, the market is still in the early stages of growth and one is not sure what turn it will take.
For the moment, the EV sector seems to be a clear favorite with the investors. We will discuss this aspect late in this article.
Tesla Is a Formidable EV Brand
Tesla has turned out to be a formidable brand and the leading player in the EV market. Its annual revenue for 2023 fiscal was $96. 8 billion and its current market value is $810 billion. This makes Tesla the next big thing after Apple. It’s riding heavily on technological innovations that foresee a future where most of the cars would run on batteries powered by electricity. In 2019, Tesla produced about 300,000 Model3 cars. These cars use plug-in facilities along the highways for power. Tesla is also emerging fast as a technology company that is futuristic in its thinking and application.
For example, Tesla CEO is the founder of SpaceX which is into manufacturing spacecraft and in 2018 he transported a Tesla Roadster worth $100,000 into space on a rocket built by SpaceX. The Roadster was left cruising around the solar system which it is still doing. SpaceX is working to reduce the cost of spacecraft so that it can colonize Mars. Whether Musk ranks in the same league as Steve Jobs or not is something that history will decide. But right now, all of Musk’s mad ideas are working in his favor. He is the new poster boy of enterprises based on technology that is still to come. This is very close to what Jobs used to be.
If we compare the technologies that Apple and Tesla have in their respective fields, we must admit that Tesla has shown the resilience of being a trailblazer. It has tried to popularize a technology that is the need of the hour. In doing so, it has struggled with the finances and been close to bankruptcy quite a few times in the last two decades.
Apple’s Automotive Dream
Apple has been working on its EV or driverless car with the launch of Project Titan in 2014. But because of its preoccupations with existing Apple products, its automotive ambitions had to be shelved. But as per recent news reports, Apple has firmed up its plans to launch its vehicle latest by 2024. It’s also reported that Apple’s car would come equipped with a breakthrough battery technology. This is a very important aspect of Apple’s plan. The battery’s capacity and range is a critical aspect for the success of EVs. By launching an EV, Apple’s effort would be to establish its superiority as a technology company.
Apple has a definite edge in battery optimization technology. Recently, it announced that it has doubled the capacity of its iPhone battery. We can expect a battery that offers a much higher capacity and range. As far as driverless car technology is concerned, Apple’s car would have to compete with Tesla FSD while Google’s Waymo.
Apple is working on a battery technology that would increase the vehicle’s range and would also cost less. People familiar with the developments said that Apple is looking to use lithium iron phosphate. Tesla is already using the same battery technology for its China-made Model3.
Will the Apple Car Rival Tesla?
Except for replacing the combustion engine with an electric engine, the EVs are not much different from regular vehicles. The idea of a driverless car is unchartered territory and no one is sure how people are going to react to it. Safety and security would be a major concern and even a few accidents can seriously put the entire idea into jeopardy.
Right now, the EV market seems to be riding on hype. Investors seem to be crazier about the appeal of clean energy transportation than the people. It’s not only Tesla but there are quite a few EV companies and startups that show a market value that’s totally insane.
For example, US-based startup Nikola’s market value shot up to $33 billion while the timeline for its first vehicle to come to the market is not before August 2021. Chinese EV maker Nio’s stocks shot up drastically taking its market value to $37 billion. The company has not produced even 100,000 EVs so far. In contrast, the market value of Ford is $30 billion.
So, the EV market seems to be highly overrated and the market value of the companies is highly inflated. Despite Tesla’s leadership position, the company has not produced and sold enough cars that can give a clear picture that people are liking EVs or charging the batteries along the highway is as easy as filling the gasoline tanks.
Final Thoughts
By all indications, Apple’s car launch is at least 4-5 years away. It’s quite a long time before both Apple and Tesla adopt and use new technologies that are on the horizon. Tesla not only has substantial experience in the EV business, but it is also well past its financial troubles. This means it can buy critical technologies at whatever price they are available. Both Apple and Tesla seem to be well-placed, and fierce competition is likely to arise whenever Apple launches its car. However, it will take a lot of work for Apple to beat Tesla right away.