Tim Cook by Apple Event
Source: Apple
A closely-watched Apple analyst warns investors to be careful about a report that the iPhone maker plans to build a self-driving car in 2024.
Last week’s report by Reuters sent shares of companies building auto parts, such as lidar sensors, into the air. But the hype was merely on speculation that some of the companies might supply parts for the Apple car, TFI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo warned in a comment over the weekend.
Kuo has built a reputation for accurately announcing Apple’s launch plans, and he follows Apple’s supply chain closely.
“We believe that the current so-called Apple car concept shares are only speculated by the market and do not involve actual Apple car suppliers,” Kuo said. “We also think that, because technical specifications for EV / self-driving cars are still evolving, it’s too early to talk about the final specifications of the Apple car.”
Kuo said the market is “too bullish” on the Apple car and he will not be surprised if the Apple car is not launched until 2028 or later. The earliest he thinks it can achieve in the market is in 2025. Kuo also suggested that Apple is too far behind in artificial intelligence to launch a competitive self-driving car.
“If Apple car wants to succeed in the future, the most important success factor is big data / AI, not hardware,” he said. “One of our biggest concerns about Apple Research December 27, 2020 2 Apple cars is that when Apple cars are introduced, the current self-driving car brands will build big data for at least five years and be conducive to deep learning / AI. a latecomer, this backward gap? ‘
Apple has kept its big vision for cars relatively quiet. But the company has been testing self-management technology for several years now, and CEO Tim Cook said he sees the technology as a way to improve Apple’s AI systems.
Other analysts were just as skeptical as Kuo.
“Apple is doing research and development in many areas, and although we are not surprised to hear that the media is once again discussing Project Titan for cars, we are very skeptical that Apple will produce a car because the profitability of the car sector is much lower, “Jim Citi analyst Jim Suva wrote in a note last week.