The headline notwithstanding, it sounds to me like two main problems: 1. It turns out that self driving is kind of tough to do.
2. Oops! Who could have guessed that vehicle manufacturing might return lower profits than bulding stylish, high-priced luxury computers, phones, and tablets in low-wage Chinese sweatshops? The article also speaks of "a cooling [EV] market," but every article I've read that has repeated that claim is obviously talking about the US. EV sales are up in Europe, and they're WAY up in China. A. Apple is an international company. I'm not the proverbial fly on their wall, but I question whether that's a primary factor in this decision. B. When Apple started this project, there weren't many EVs on offer. Now there's lots of pretty good competition. If they'd moved faster, they might be in a dfiferent place now. So it goes. C. The expensive end of the EV market is - shall we say - already pretty well served. Who needs another $100k EV? IMO, the way forward now is in affordable EVs. But that's just my take on it, and I'm not an expert. On to the story itself: ----- Apple Inc. is canceling a decadelong effort to build an electric car, according to people with knowledge of the matter, abandoning one of the most ambitious projects in the history of the company. ***** The tech giant started working on a car around 2014, setting its sights on a fully autonomous electric vehicle with a limousine-like interior and voice- guided navigation. But the project struggled nearly from the start, with Apple changing the team´s leadership and strategy several times ... Apple also was facing a cooling market for EVs ... ***** Apple had imagined the car being priced at around $100,000. But executives were concerned about the vehicle being able to provide the profit margins that Apple typically enjoys on its products. ---- Full story: https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/apple-cancels-work-on-electric-car-shifts-team- to-generative-ai-1.2039986 or https://v.gd/rr6J5D ----- Disclaimer: I'm into apple produce but not Apple products. I've had lots of Jonathan, WInesap, and Braeburn apples, but the only Apple I've ever owned, or plan to, was a clapped-out Ipad Touch I got at a garage sale for $5. David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Blockchain is an elaborate workaround for a very specific problem: verifying irreversible transfers of value without a centralized authority. In other words, it's a computationally burdensome way to hate the government. -- Sarah Jeong = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org No other addresses in TO and CC fields HELP: http://www.evdl.org/help/
