How big a threat is an Apple car to Tesla? originally appeared on Quora: the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answer by Stan Hanks, CTO of Columbia Ventures Corp, on Quora:
The Apple Car is a bigger threat to Tesla than people think it will be.
Yeah, yeah—Apple has zero credibility in cars. They make electronic devices, and software as a service. Tesla? Those guys have mega-factories, and vertical supply chain integration (they might want to see how well that worked for Henry Ford before investing more deeply), and massive street cred. They have what the VC industry likes to refer to internally as "studly engineering". So how could it be possible?
Because they're Apple. Remember this?
That's not clever marketing. That's in their DNA. And oh yeah—Apple doesn't compromise, either. Their "deal' is user experience. It's what they're all about. Not pinnacle engineering. Not maximum performance. Experience.
That's why, for the last year, Apple design boss Jony Ive has living in a chauffeured Bently. Not because he's rich as Croesus and can afford it, but because he needs to understand what it's like to be driven, versus driving. To experience in depth what it would be like to use a car that you don't drive yourself. He's sampling the nuances, taking in the data, distilling it—and I guarantee will produce a completely different user experience, much richer and deeper and more satisfying than any other competitor "autonomous vehicle" project in development.
Because that's what Apple does. Without exception. Without compromise.
Think hard on this.
Tesla is all jacked up about over the air upgrades and battery performance and trying to drop price point and ‘Ludicrous Mode’.
Apple is going to completely re-invent the person-car relationship. Just like they did with the iPhone and the iPod before it.
The iPod wasn't groundbreaking in that it gave you portable music. That's been around for a very very long time
(that's a 1954 Regency TR-1 transistor radio, for the non-audio geek population)
The iPod was a tool, a mechanism that allowed Apple to completely change how people think about buying music.
It's only been nine years since iTunes launched, but it's completely changed how people buy music.
Green line going down? CDs. Blue line going straight up? Digital download of singles.
Apple seldom delivers a superior product, in terms of bleeding edge technologies, raw power, or any of that stuff. They deliver extremely stable products, backed by massively disruptive ecosystems. Just look at what they've done with Apple Pay in less than two years.
I'd also encourage you to remember that while that was still in "rumor" stages, people were saying it wasn't possible. That it couldn't be done. That there was no possible vector for success. And yet, here we are, as of yesterday:
"The reach of Apple Pay also continues to expand following a very successful launch in China in the March quarter and last week's rollout in Singapore. Apple Pay is growing at a tremendous rate, with more than five times the transaction volume of a year ago and 1 million new users per week. There are more than 10 million contactless-ready locations in the countries where Apple Pay has launched to date, including over 2.5 million locations now accepting Apple Pay in the United States, and more expansion of Apple Pay is coming soon." - Tim Cook CEO Apple, Inc.
If you want to read the chronicles of the nay-sayers, I most strongly encourage you to follow Brian Roemmele and read his back-catalog. And then apply that thinking to considering how to approach anyone who tells you that Apple can safely be ignored in the automotive space.
I can't tell you what Apple has up their sleeve.
But I can tell that it's a lot more than their arm.
I personally think that everyone in the auto industry should be scared out of the pants right now. Except maybe Bob Lutz who will probably be laughing his ass off and saying, "You shoulda listened to me decades ago!"
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