
When news came out that Apple would cooperate with Hyundai Motor to develop fully self-driving electric vehicles, Hyundai Motor Company issued a statement that “we are in consultation with Apple”, and a few hours later, it removed Apple from the target of cooperation and “received requests for cooperation from many companies.” Said. As Hyundai Motors showed such a move, the tradition of keeping secrets, which Apple has strictly adhered to, is attracting new attention.
CNBC said on the 14th (local time)’If you do business with Apple, you should not tell anyone about this. Hyundai has learned that, but in an article titled, “If you are dealing with Apple, whether it is a public corporation or Apple’s major customers, you must strictly adhere to’nondisclosure agreements (NDA)”.
It’s not uncommon to promise confidentiality in IT trades, but Apple says it’s more thorough than its competitors. In fact, according to Apple’s policy, when sharing Apple-related information with suppliers and third parties, CNBC said it requires only a minimal disclosure to resolve the problem at hand. An anonymous source said, “Apple is asking its partners not to mention’Apple’ in public announcements or in the press.” Apple and another source said, “Apple’s request for confidentiality is very tricky.”
For example, Corning’s CEO Wendel Wix, which supplies touchscreen glass to the iPhone, said it was difficult to mention the partnership with Apple prior to the iPhone 12 launch. He said at a performance presentation in October last year, “I don’t feel right to go around with the name’Apple’. Inside the company, I don’t even use the word’Apple’, and there is a code name for Apple.”
The strict secrecy tradition is tied to Apple’s marketing strategy. Founder Steve Jobs has kept the details of unreleased products in top secret to make the new product launch event a surprise for the world. Tim Cook’s CEO’s Apple is in a situation where it has no choice but to focus on secrecy while using the same strategy.
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