Much has been noted about Apple’s recently established automotive efforts, with reports of its Project Titan automobile department moving its focus away from constructing a vehicle and towards automation and software. Today on a revenues call, CEO Tim Cook provided perhaps the most conclusive acknowledgment that his company was considering the vehicle industry. Although in normal Apple style, Cook kept it light on details when asked to elaborate on what he believes the business can bring.
“I cannot discuss reports,” he stated. “However as you know, we search for methods we can improve the customer’s experience on various sets of products. We’re always taking a look at brand-new things and the vehicle space in general is a location where it’s clear there’s a lot of innovations that will either appear or will be able to reinvent the cars and truck experience.” Cook added that it was fascinating from that point of view, but that the company certainly has absolutely nothing it can reveal at this moment.
Apple’s Project Titan appears to stay in flux from this year, when the company put previous executive Bob Mansfield in charge of the department. Mansfield apparently reduced personnel and moved Apple’s focus to establishing an operating system for automobiles that would act much like iOS for smartphones. Another team is focused on building a self-driving software system that would compete those of Tesla, Uber, Google, and the many conventional automotive players now moving their focus to automation. It’s a strategic choice, however a departure for Apple, which has historically shunned any item method that would divorce synchronized control over both software application and hardware.
