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Shortly before Christmas, the rumor mill was in full swing regarding the so-called Project Titan - the Apple Car. Now the well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has commented on the topic.
Earlier this week, Reuters reportedthat Apple is targeting 2024 for the production of its first electric vehicle with "next-level" battery technology. However, the well-known and accurate Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that a market launch is not expected until 2025-2027 at the earliest—significantly later than previously reported. In a new forecast published by MacRumors receive Kuo explained that the specifications of the Apple Car have not yet been decided. The analyst added that he would not be surprised if the timeframe for the vehicle's launch is pushed back to 2028 or later:
Project Titan: Market is “overly optimistic”
We predicted in a previous report that Apple will unveil the Apple Car in 2023-2025. However, our recent research suggests that the current timeline for Apple Car development is not clear and if development begins this year and all goes well, it will appear in 2025-2027 at the earliest. Due to changes in the EV/Self-Driving market and Apple's quality demands, we would not be surprised if the Apple Car launch timeline is pushed to 2028 or later.
Kuo went on to state that the market was "overly optimistic" about the Apple Car's launch timeline. He advised against any inventions related to the Apple Car. Furthermore, Kuo expressed extreme skepticism about the Apple Car's success. The statement reads:
Apple Car: Tesla CEO reacts to Reuters report
The market has high expectations for the Apple Car. However, we remind investors that while Apple has a variety of competitive advantages, it is not always successful in new businesses. For example, Apple failed to enter the smart speaker market. Demand for HomePod and HomePod mini was lower than expected and development of new smart speaker models was temporarily halted. Competition in the EV/self-driving car market is tougher than that for smart speakers, so we think it is dangerous to be too hasty in thinking that the Apple Car will be successful.
If Apple Car wants to succeed in the future, the key success factor is big data/AI, not hardware. One of our biggest concerns about Apple Car is that by the time Apple Car launches, current self-driving car brands will have accumulated at least five years of big data and are conducive to deep learning/AI. How does Apple, a latecomer, overcome this gap?
Reuters claims that Apple's self-driving vehicle will feature a unique "mono-cell" battery design that "frees up space inside the battery pack by eliminating certain parts that contain battery materials," which could lead to a longer range per charge. Tesla CEO Elon Musk responded on Twitter, claiming that a "mono-cell" battery is "electrochemically impossible." Overall, it sounds like Project Titan is still a long way from a market launch. Therefore, rumors surrounding the topic should be treated with extreme skepticism—as mentioned several times before. (Photo by SciePro / Bigstockphoto)
