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It's no longer a secret: Apple is interested in automobiles. However, at the moment, we do not know precisely what type of car the Cupertino company will offer. It is unclear whether the Apple Car will be an electric car similar to Tesla's, or whether it will be self-driving cars similar to Waymo's. Additionally, it is unclear when the first Apple car will be released. And unfortunately, according to the latest newsletter from journalist Mark Gurman (Bloomberg), this car will not arrive for a long time.
Years of waiting
Regarding the projects of Apple in automobiles, Gurman writes that “the company does not plan to ship anything before the end of the decade.”Unfortunately, the newsletter doesn't say more about this. But it should be noted that the Bloomberg journalist released this new information, a month after a comment published by Ming Chi Kuo (a highly respected analyst) about the Apple Car.
“ The development of the Apple Car seems to have lost all visibility for the moment. If Apple does not adopt an acquisition strategy to enter the automobile market, I doubt that the Apple Car will enter mass production in the next few years,” Kuo wrote in a publication on X (Twitter), at the end of September.
Obviously, this information should always be considered with caution, as it does not come from official sources. But in any case, while Apple's automotive project seems to be in difficulty, its competitor Xiaomi is making progress. Like Apple, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer also plans to sell cars. Its objective is to launch production in 2024. And recently, alleged images of the future Xiaomi car have also leaked on the web.
Apple cautious about AR/VR
< p>In any case, in his newsletter, Mark Gurman explains that to reinvigorate its activity, Apple needs a new major project. And this is why he is interested in automobiles and AR/VR headsets. As the first Apple car will not be released for a long time, it would therefore be on AR/VR that Apple will focus in the short term.
As a reminder, this year, the Cupertino company formalized its Vision Pro headset, which will be released in early 2024. For the launch of this new category, Apple chose a cautious approach, by only marketing the product in its physical stores.
“There has never been a product like the Vision Pro. And that's why we're deliberately introducing it in our stores only, so we can really pay close attention to the last mile,” Tim Cook said on a call with analysts, according to Gurman. “We will be offering demos in stores, and it will be a very different process than the normal process.”
- A similar approach was taken by Apple during the marketing of the first version of its Apple Watch.
- There have been rumors about Apple's automobile project for years
- But the first “Apple Car” would not arrive before the end of this decade
- The automobile and AR/VR are the two projects on which the firm is banking to ensure its long-term growth
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