Will the’Apple Car’ really come out?…Points to watch the 2021 electric car market

Apple Car is a real project… Prominence in the form of autonomous electric vehicles
Interested in’experiences provided by automobiles’ rather than’cars’
Apple’s participation in the electric vehicle market innovation and lead’positive’ prospects

[디지털투데이 추현우 기자] The hot keyword that hit the global electric vehicle market last year was’Tesla’. It is not an exaggeration to say that’Tesla’ was the biggest issue eroding the electric car market in 2020, as if representing everything in the electric car market.

However, as we entered last December, a new unexpected variable appeared. It is’Apple’. As Apple entered the electric car market, the US electric car market as well as the securities market were shaken.

The entire market was shaken by a single unconfirmed rumored news that Apple, which dominated the PC and mobile markets, may enter the last remaining IT frontiers and automotive sectors. What is the meaning and potential of Apple in the electric vehicle market, so is the market shaking so much?

Apple car, will it really come out?

First of all, it is clear that Apple is conducting research and development to enter the automotive market in any way. Influential foreign media such as The Wall Street Journal said that Apple has been conducting a research project related to automobiles called the’Titan Project’ since at least 2015, and that there are only hundreds of people working on the Titan project.

In December 2018, it was revealed through the media that Apple recruited Andrew Kim, a former Tesla chief designer, and Doug Field, a former Tesla vehicle development executive. Besides these, many of the key people from Tesla are known to work for Apple. Engineers from Toyota and Nissan also joined. In 2015, there was an attempt to recruit Samsung battery experts. Through this, it is expected that the Apple car will be a battery-based electric vehicle or a hydride vehicle rather than a traditional internal combustion engine vehicle.

In 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned in a media interview that “we are developing our own autonomous driving platform.” In 2018, Apple discussed the development of an unmanned autonomous vehicle with Volkswagen, and the Titan project was temporarily suspended or reduced due to the resignation of automobile-related developers in 2019, but the fact that the project is still being maintained is reported by various media. It is indirectly confirmed through.

“The Apple Car development project is still in progress,” said Lewis Painter, a senior reporter at Macworld, a media specializing in Apple. However, recently, a situation that seems to have changed its character or goal has been discovered.

He explained, “Apple has been developing its own self-driving electric vehicle, and it has also considered a way to directly produce it through affiliates or partners such as Volkswagen, but it seems that it has recently abandoned direct manufacturing of the car.” Reporter Lewis Painter’s reasoning is that instead of producing car hardware directly, it turned to building an Apple car ecosystem through software platform and integrated OS supply.

■ What will the Apple Car look like?

Not a lot of technical information is flowing to the outside on Apple’s own car products. From this, you can estimate the rough appearance of the Apple Car.

According to Apple Insider, the first in-vehicle lighting system patent was mentioned by Apple. The concept is to help users intuitively operate by installing LED or OLED lighting on various controls and driver’s seats other than the vehicle dashboard.

In addition to lighting system patents, dozens of patents have been discovered since 2011, including smart key patents linking iPhone and vehicle, remote control patent, vehicle interior camera patent, and automatic parking patent.

In 2015, 2016, and 2017, Apple’s self-driving test vehicle equipped with a camera and lidar sensor on a Toyota Lexus SUV was seen. Through negotiations with BMW and Volkswagen, it has been revealed that Apple has conducted research on applying artificial intelligence systems through machine learning to vehicles. It is a system similar to the implementation of the autonomous driving function implemented by Waymo.

Going to need more than 140 characters to go over’s Project Titan. I call it “The Thing” pic.twitter.com/sLDJd7iYSa

— MacCallister Higgins (@macjshiggins) October 17, 2017

In sum, the overall appearance of the Apple car can be estimated as a battery-based electric vehicle capable of autonomous driving. Like Tesla, even if Apple does not manufacture the electric vehicle itself, it seems that Apple develops various systems, software, and related infrastructure for electric vehicle products.

Specific price information also flowed. Jeffreys & Company, a global investment bank, predicted in a report that the price of Apple cars would be similar to Tesla’s high-end sports sedan, the Model S. It is 67980 pounds in British pounds, and about 100 million won in Korean money. It’s an Apple-like price.

Why is Apple trying to make a car?

Although Apple occupies a dominant market position in the global IT market such as PC and mobile, automobile is a manufacturing industry close to the device industry. It is a market with a completely different nature of business. What’s more, why is Apple wanting to jump into the auto industry, which is extremely capital-intensive and highly regulated, but whose returns are not as high as expected?

Goldman Sachs, who is affiliated with Apple in the Apple Pay division, explained in an investment report that what Apple is pursuing is not the’car’ itself, but’the experience that a car provides to its users’.

Apple has succeeded in commercializing the essential devices of modern people such as computers and mobile phones. The remaining area is cars. In addition, automobiles are an industrial field with relatively less IT development. Apple wants to extend the Mac and iPhone experience to the car. We want Apple products to permeate the everyday time and space where modern people work, talk, and move.

Goldman Sachs emphasized that Apple’s investment can be understood only by looking at the Apple car as a’mobile platform’ rather than a’car’.

The low profitability of the automobile manufacturing industry is also expected to make up for Apple with services, not products. Rather than making a profit by selling a car for tens of thousands of dollars, it is a method of earning profit by providing subscription services for’Apple iCloud Service’,’Apple Autonomous Driving Service’,’Apple Car Music Service’, and’Apple Navigation Service’.

There is also an evaluation that it already possesses all the other technologies except for making automobile bodies. “Apple has all the essential elements of the future automotive industry,” said Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley analyst. “Excellent capital raising, special A-level talent, hardware design capabilities, especially software and platform development capabilities are unmatched. Existing automotive companies This is not a level that can be pursued.”

How will Apple innovate the automotive market?

Excluding some products such as Mac Pro, Apple is outsourcing most of Mac products, iPhones, and even AirPods, which are accessory products, through overseas partners such as China and Taiwan. It is considered one of the best supply chain management (SCM) companies in the world.

Therefore, if an Apple car appears, it is promising to proceed with outsourcing production through an affiliate or partner. It will not be easy to produce an unfamiliar electric vehicle, but it is a common opinion of automobile experts that it is not a barrier that will not be challenged at all.

It also has battery technology. Specifically, it is a battery management technology (BMS). And Apple is the only company that makes PC and smartphone operating systems independently. Integrated OS for cars is one of the areas Apple can do best.

If Apple enters the automotive market, it is expected to open up a new area of ​​automotive software with Tesla. That’s why Tesla’s ultimate competitor is Apple, not Volkswagen, Toyota, or Hyundai.

Tony Aquila, CEO of Canoo, a self-driving electric vehicle startup, said in a media interview on the 23rd (local time) that “if Apple enters the electric vehicle market, the scale of the battery industry will expand explosively in both quantity and quality.” . Apple will be able to contribute to the leap in battery technology such as all-solid-state batteries that Toyota and others are putting their lives on.

According to the rumored news that Apple is promoting the development of electric vehicles using Lidar, the stock prices of LiDAR specialized companies such as Velodyne and Lumina rose 6-7% each day. Quantumscape, an all-solid-state battery developer, rose more than 30% in just a few days.

CEO Tony Aquila said, “Apple’s strong brand, technology, purchasing power, and financial power will have a very positive impact on the development of the electric vehicle market. Above all, Apple’s strategy in the field of software and batteries is expected.”

Reporter Chu Hyun-woo [email protected]

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