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What if Apple bought Tesla?

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Re: What if Apple bought Tesla?

#11

Post by drdeadringer »

ameister14 wrote: post #7

I don't see Musk working well within the structure Tim Cook would need to create in order for Tim to keep his job. I think it would be a huge mistake for Tesla. Plus, the kind of manufacturing and operations Tesla is looking at is something Apple would be just as inexperienced with, and still might not work out. To me, it would make sense for a Detroit company to buy Tesla. Older group cannibalizes younger while lett…

> To me, it would make sense for a Detroit company to buy Tesla

Part of me thought of Tesla buying a part of Detroit.

Re: What if Apple bought Tesla?

#12

Post by danhak »

gkoberger wrote: post #2

I was really hoping Microsoft would, and make Elon Musk CEO of Microsoft (back when they were looking still). Musk is a Microsoft fan. Microsoft would get a much-needed visionary, and Tesla (and other initiatives) would get a much-needed cash infusion. I don't think Musk/Tesla would fit in at Apple. Apple already has enough "vision". I can't see him wanting to answer to anyone, and I can't see Apple giving him the re…

Tesla needs no cash infusion. Their balance sheet is quite strong and their business is more-or-less break-even on cash flow.

Re: What if Apple bought Tesla?

#15

Post by rkuykendall-com »

Apple is such an absolutely massive company, but Musk makes them look so small. On the one hand, Apple has more brand recognition and cash than God. On the other hand, when you spend your time dreaming about electric cars, rockets, and hyperloops... who would want to play with laptops?

Musk plays the game on an entirely different level.

I think Sergey Brin understands this. Google is playing on that level. Self-driving cars, robotics, machine learning, Google Glass, augmented reality, NLP, etc.

The future will be a different world, and while Apple shaped much of the last 20 years, I'm afraid that time is over.

Re: What if Apple bought Tesla?

#17

Post by gkoberger »

danhak wrote: post #12
gkoberger wrote: post #2

I was really hoping Microsoft would, and make Elon Musk CEO of Microsoft (back when they were looking still). Musk is a Microsoft fan. Microsoft would get a much-needed visionary, and Tesla (and other initiatives) would get a much-needed cash infusion. I don't think Musk/Tesla would fit in at Apple. Apple already has enough "vision". I can't see him wanting to answer to anyone, and I can't see Apple giving him the re…

Tesla needs no cash infusion. Their balance sheet is quite strong and their business is more-or-less break-even on cash flow.

I bet they could figure out something to do with the extra billions they'd have access to.

Re: What if Apple bought Tesla?

#19

Post by lalos »

gkoberger wrote: post #2

I was really hoping Microsoft would, and make Elon Musk CEO of Microsoft (back when they were looking still). Musk is a Microsoft fan. Microsoft would get a much-needed visionary, and Tesla (and other initiatives) would get a much-needed cash infusion. I don't think Musk/Tesla would fit in at Apple. Apple already has enough "vision". I can't see him wanting to answer to anyone, and I can't see Apple giving him the re…

Can you elaborate on why is Musk a huge Microsoft fan?

Re: What if Apple bought Tesla?

#20

Post by abalone »

This is a great test of whether you "get" Apple. A lot of comments about what Apple should be doing, like how to take more market share from Android or Windows, actually make zero sense for Apple. This one actually does make sense.

The right kind of perspective on this is -- and it will make some people apoplectic -- future cars are like iPads with wheels. They both are basically giant batteries with very sophisticated software and well crafted interfaces. Apple has the engineering organization to deliver those key things along with a certain approach to integrating services, sales and support. What they're missing is the automotive engineering and that's something Tesla has done a great job of building up.

The price would be unusually high for an Apple acquisition but only in absolute terms. What makes it an "Apple-y" acquisition target is that it's an engineering piece of a much larger system, the "iPad on wheels", where the real future value is.

That is why Jobs was confident an Apple car would take 50% of the market. Not by building a better mousetrap but by redefining the product category.

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