Daily Management Review

How Long Do We Have to Wait to See Apple Car?


08/17/2015


The Guardian has found evidence that Apple really is developing a vehicle with the autopilot under maximum secrecy. When can we ride an Apple Car?



According to the newspaper, Apple is finalizing testing of the first model of a “smart” vehicle. It must pass on the former military base near San Francisco, where the previous tests were conducted companies Mercedes-Benz and Honda.

The Guardian claims that they have correspondence of engineers involved in the creation of Apple’s unmanned vehicle code-named Project Titan. The newspaper notes that this is the first documentary evidence of rumors about the creation of the Californian company’s "drone". Apple has refrained from official comments.

Earlier it was reported that Apple may use BMW i3 concept for creating its own electric vehicle in the framework of Project Titan. this portal CNBC with reference to the German edition of Manager Magazin wrote about this.

Negotiations between the two companies allegedly began in the fall of last year. Interest in cooperation with the Bavarian automaker has been so great that Apple CEO Tim Cook personally came to the center for the production of electric vehicles BMW in Leipzig to take a look at the line of the production of BMW i3.

According to Manager Magazin, the company from Cupertino is interested in i3’s car body, made of lightweight carbon fiber. Then, communication between the two companies was interrupted to be resumed in March 2015, when, according to the German motoring magazine Auto Motor und Sport, the two sides once again began to negotiate about the i3 transformation to Apple’s electric car.

February this year, the news agency Bloomberg reported that Apple plans to launch mass production of its first electric vehicle in 2020. Usually, auto vendors take about seven years to develop a new model, but it looks like Apple executives are in hurry.

The desire to start production of Apple's own electric vehicle in such a short time demonstrates the company's desire to join the battle with rivals such as Tesla Motors and General Motors, says the agency.

Recall that, according to a recent report, the company's revenue for the fiscal quarter III totaled $ 49.6 billion, and net profit - $ 10.7 billion, or $ 1.85 per share. By comparison, Apple's revenue in the same quarter of the previous year totalled $ 37.4 billion and net quarterly profit - $ 7.7 billion, or $ 1.28 per share. Gross quarterly profit amounted to 39.7% compared with 39.4% a year earlier. International sales accounted for 64% of the quarter's revenue.

The increase is caused by successful sales of the iPhone and Mac in the III quarter, revenues from services and the successful launch of Apple Watch. Over the past three months, Apple sold 47.5 million of iPhones, and had an increase of 35% compared to the same period last year. Strong figures on sales of smartphones are not typical for this quarter: the adherents of Apple usually wait until autumn, when the company present new items.

It’s not all rosy in the Apple’s kingdom. Sales of tablet devices have been falling for already the 6th consecutive quarter. This quarter they have fallen by 18%. However, it is not the fault of Apple devices: there is a tendency to decline in the segment of tablets in general. Many owners are in no hurry to change the plates their devices to the new and the demand for small plates is reduced due to the spread of smartphones with a screen size of 5 inches or more.