Apple cars are coming? Will kill Tesla directly?
Apple Cars have been rumored to be building cars recently.....
According to Taiwan’s 'Economic Daily' report, Apple’s key supply chain vendors have confirmed that Apple plans to release the first Apple Car in September next year, and this plan is at least two years ahead of the original plan. Even Apple Car prototypes have been tested on the road in California, USA.
According to the supplier, according to the iPhone’s practice of rushing goods from parts and components, Apple recently proposed stocking requirements to Taiwanese auto parts companies such as Heda, BizLink-KY, Heqin, and Tomita. Include relevant industry players in the first wave of supply chains. In response to the demand for Apple Car stocking, manufacturers such as Heda and BizLink have 'exploded orders.'
In fact, Apple has been paving the way for 'car building'. As early as 2013, Apple announced its entry into the automotive field, and released the 'iOS in the car' plan, ready to 'get on the car'. Its first batch of partners include Ferrari, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz, which is also in Apple's history. It is the first time to carry its own software on hardware products of other companies. It was also at that point in time that the rumors of 'Apple to acquire Tesla' were rampant.
In 2014, Apple’s secretly planned 'Project Titan' surfaced. According to the data, Apple's initial goal is to create a product that completely subverts the current industry like Mac and iPhone: driverless smart cars.
For this reason, Apple began to recruit people everywhere, attracting experts from Google, Mercedes-Benz, Tesla and other companies to form a huge automotive research and development team. Statistics show that within one year after its establishment, this team has convened more than 1,000 engineers to participate, including more than 300 Tesla employees. At the same time, on December 10, 2015, Apple registered three domain names 'apple.car
Since 2016, Apple has increased its investment in automotive-related patents. According to incomplete statistics, since 2017, Apple has obtained more than 100 patented technologies for automobiles. As of 2020, Apple's patented technology in the automotive field has covered many aspects such as autonomous driving, charging, on-board systems, and vehicle body structure optimization. Among them, the proportion of patents for Apple's intelligent driving system increased from 22% in 2016 to 41% in 2019; the proportion of patents for vehicle hardware innovation design increased from 11% in 2016 to 37% in 2019.
In 2019, Apple acquired Drive.ai, a self-driving startup company. In addition, according to DigiTimes reports, Apple is jointly developing self-driving chips with TSMC, and this is also the deployment of Apple Car. The media also pointed out that Apple has plans to build a car assembly plant in the United States.
Undoubtedly, the accumulation of talents, patents, and technology has provided Apple with more guarantees for 'making carsWith Apple's economic strength, it will be a breeze to get the car project launched as soon as possible.
Some analysts pointed out that Apple’s speeding up of car research and development has something to do with Tesla’s soaring stock price. At present, the market value of Tesla has soared to 600 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to the total of nine major auto companies such as Toyota, GM, and Volkswagen. Once again confirmed that the development of new energy vehicles has an irreplaceable vane role.
In addition, the new energy automobile industry is currently in the 'out-of-pocket period' of the outbreak. Apple also wants to seize the trend of building new energy vehicles, at least not too late in time. The news that Apple's first electric car Apple Car will be released in September next year is the best proof.
If Apple really launches electric vehicles next year, it will inevitably have an impact on Tesla, including Xiaopeng, Weilai, Ideal, Weimar and many other car companies. It is expected that the new energy vehicle industry will usher in tremendous changes by then. For domestic car companies, only by preparing early and taking precautions, will they not be afraid of this deep car revolution.
On this smart car track, can Apple create another 'iPhone' legend? We are full of expectations.
