The prospect of an Apple Car does not seem to worry Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk. In fact, he welcomed such a prospect during a recent interview.
"I actually hope Apple gets into the car business. That would be great," Musk said.
The Tesla head honcho's statement may not necessarily mean he's underestimating the potential of Apple succeeding in the car industry. It's just that Musk is probably confident in his company's capability to beat the competition. After all, Tesla is the leading electric car manufacturer in the world.
Still, Apple shook the smartphone industry in 2007 with its iPhone. It could do so the same in the electric car manufacturing industry.
The California-based tech giant has been rumored to be assembling an automotive team, a fact that is backed by Apple's recent move to pirate Tesla employees. Apple's "Project Titan" is hoping to start shipping cars by 2020.
"No we're not really seeing significant attrition of engineers to Apple - for anything, car or otherwise. And anyone can figure this out by going on LinkedIn [to see] what the relative flow of people is from one company to another. And I think it's like...if you look at the trailing 12 months, I think Tesla has recruited five times as many people from Apple as Apple has recruited from Tesla. It's some fairly high number," Musk said.
Musk mentioned that Apple had talks with Tesla in 2014 which ended with the latter dismissing the offer of a buyout.
Meanwhile, people have been seeing minivans are believed to be leased to Apple in connection to its automated electric car project. Such cars have been seen in Florida, New York, and Texas.
Analysts at investment research firm Sanford C. Bernstein think that Apple really is considering an entry into the automotive industry. The big potential revenue and seeing Tesla's success are some of the things that could have inspired Apple to take the plunge.
Of course, people still have to wait for the company to make formal announcements to shed more light on the Apple Car.
Join the Conversation