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Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

asia.nikkei.com

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Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#51

Post by gumby »

esrauch wrote: post #8
88840-8855 wrote: post #4

why is everyone so naive and expects a regular car? i will probably be some kind of 3-wheeler for 1 person or some gadget thing.

I think a 3 wheel car is just pragmatically worse than a 4 wheel one. It would also be "uncool" which would make it really far off-brand for Apple. If it's intended to take you on roughly the same trips that a normal car is (to the grocery store/work/school/whatever generally 30+ minutes away) it basically will necessarily just be something that looks a lot like a regular car.

I owned a Corbin Sparrow (3 wheel electric car from the early '00s) and indeed, it was suboptimal.

The good: pretty stable, drive in commuter lane, able to park almost anywhere, registers as a motorcycle (cheaper than a conventional car). It had two wheels in front, so it wasn't unstable like a Reliant Robin.

The thesis was that it was a good urban vehicle. As a commuter car it was fine as long as your commute was under 45 minutes.

Unfortunately it was a single occupant vehicle, so as soon as we had a kid it was a nonstarter for my wife. Also it could only carry a single bag of groceries.

People buy cars with multiple "jobs" in mind, and also like the flexibility of changing plans mid trip (stop at grocery on the way home, for example, or go pick up a sick kid from school).

And Smart cars (the Smart brand I mean) took over the urban market in Europe.

I don't see any future in 3 wheeled cars.

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#52

Post by moocow01 »

inglor_cz wrote: post #3

In the context of recent events... If there is a planned demonstration of some uncouth people in a certain place, will your Apple Car simply refuse to drive you there? Or will it stop serving you once your GPS coordinates from your iPhone show that you were actually there? These would be absurd, almost troll-level questions a year ago, but I feel that now they must be pondered. Edit: from 4 to -2 points within two mi…

"after some time, loses enough social credit that the government decides to deprive him of the ability to use his car"

I know its easy to mentally walk down the dystopian road on this, but hasn't this always been the case? The only thing new is these policies are now getting codified using technology as society embraces it. Even from an apolitical stance, we as a modern society have always had mechanisms to take away a person's driving ability and car based upon a number of benchmarks based upon social behaviors.

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#53

Post by esja »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #21

I'd love to hear more about the potential future of gross margins on any automotive Apple products. I've heard auto manufacturers have notoriously low margins, but in reality they seem just as fine as any other business. That being said, those same margins are not at all within the realm of what Apple current enjoys. That all means unless some further accounting engineering goes on, it spells a less attractive future…

The PC hardware market also had fairly thin margins, if I remember correctly. It didn't stop Apple carving out a profitable niche and then expanding it.

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#54

Post by fakedang »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #41
londons_explore wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pick between the news headlines: * Apple car found to have transported terrorists to sabotage Capitol building. Should those with morals be boycotting Apple? * Apple refuses service to terrorists. Apple tries to hold the country together and keep peace. If you were Apple, and had to pick between those headlines, which would you pick? When your company is built on your brand, it is suicide to associate yourself with s…

The Taliban and other less savory groups drive Toyotas yet the demographics who cut ties the nanosecond they catch a whiff of wrong-think still love the brand. In fact, they go so far as to spin it as an endorsement. Why wouldn't apple get the same treatment? Its other products are known as high quality status symbols the world over. You don't see people up in arms because a public execution in some developing nation…

Tbh the tech on those vehicles is really outdated stuff. No computers, no tracking chips, nothing.

Sourcr:- my Dad's 2002 Corolla is in Yemen

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#55

Post by apples_oranges »

troelsSteegin wrote: post #44

Why does an Apple Car need to exist, beyond the commercial interests of Apple? What would make a car from Apple special relative to a car from VW or Tesla? Is the Apple brand really that compelling? A car is not a watch or a phone. If you really like cars, you could think of a car as a kind of a personal sculpture or trophy, and Apple is good at making nice looking, prized objects. I suppose a car is a container for…

It's not just about design. Apple makes very useful things, for example the, imho, least annoying computers. If they can improve on cars in some way.. why not? Because I doubt they will be able to compete on brand value only. Cars are too expensive for that.

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#56

Post by dahfizz »

londons_explore wrote: post #10
inglor_cz wrote: post #3

In the context of recent events... If there is a planned demonstration of some uncouth people in a certain place, will your Apple Car simply refuse to drive you there? Or will it stop serving you once your GPS coordinates from your iPhone show that you were actually there? These would be absurd, almost troll-level questions a year ago, but I feel that now they must be pondered. Edit: from 4 to -2 points within two mi…

Pick between the news headlines: * Apple car found to have transported terrorists to sabotage Capitol building. Should those with morals be boycotting Apple? * Apple refuses service to terrorists. Apple tries to hold the country together and keep peace. If you were Apple, and had to pick between those headlines, which would you pick? When your company is built on your brand, it is suicide to associate yourself with s…

> * Apple car found to have transported terrorists to sabotage Capitol building. Should those with morals be boycotting Apple?

Why is there any reason to believe this would be a headline? Even ISIS using Toyotas didn't have any serious repercussions for Toyota.

I know cancel culture has gotten itself pretty ingrained into society, but this is flat out insane.

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#57

Post by Zelphyr »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #21

I'd love to hear more about the potential future of gross margins on any automotive Apple products. I've heard auto manufacturers have notoriously low margins, but in reality they seem just as fine as any other business. That being said, those same margins are not at all within the realm of what Apple current enjoys. That all means unless some further accounting engineering goes on, it spells a less attractive future…

That's where I think Apple making a car might be interesting. They've already shown they can handle effectively renting a phone. And we know for sure their car isn't going to be cheap.

What I suspect they're going to do is make it so you can only finance through them with the option to trade up after five years. They'll take the car back after that time and either refurb and resell it themselves or offload that to third-parties. That gives them steady revenue for years with comparatively high margins.

And, like Tesla, they'll sell direct. No dealerships for the Apple Car.

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#58

Post by dahfizz »

jayd16 wrote: post #50
throwaway0a5e wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Taliban and other less savory groups drive Toyotas yet the demographics who cut ties the nanosecond they catch a whiff of wrong-think still love the brand. In fact, they go so far as to spin it as an endorsement. Why wouldn't apple get the same treatment? Its other products are known as high quality status symbols the world over. You don't see people up in arms because a public execution in some developing nation…

It might have something to do with the fact Toyata has literally no ability to enforce driver usage.

If they really cared, they would implement such tracking technology.

Its 2021. There is literally no reason for _anything_ to be sold without the ability to tell if $BAD_PERSON is using it and self-destruct if so. You're a terrorist if you disagree.

/s, but not for long.

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#59

Post by fakedang »

rusticpenn wrote: post #40
drumhead wrote: post #12

Why a car though? I understand Apple are all about the mobile now, but a car? I suspect it isnt a car, but maybe some sort of information or auto navigation intergrations.

Apple already tried that with BMW apparently. BMW went along with it until Apple wanted to use Apple branding instead of BMW. That ended the contract. I guess Apple has to find a Car manufacturer who wants to turn into a supplier for apple instead.

Or they could acquire one of the traditional players. Ford, GM, even VW or BMW if the EU lets them.

Re: Apple Car expected to shake up auto industry in Asia and world

#60

Post by ASalazarMX »

throwawaytolk wrote: post #48

This is going to be amazing. I trust apple more than any other mega Corp. I only buy apple branded products and I've long thought of then as the 'Ford' of computing - or pick your favorite brand. I am so excited to be able interact with a seamless ecosystem , even in the commute time between my home and my office!

Nice try, Mr. Cook.

But seriously, I don't doubt Apple will find convenient and innovative use cases, what I doubt is Apple prioritizing user needs over market capture. I would hate my car being subject to the iron hand of Apple marketing.

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