Apple has been launching its regular products — most recently the iPhone 15 series, Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and newer AirPods Pro — without apparent obstacles, but its long-gestating, ambitious electric vehicles face an uncertain future. Apple’s car project, known internally as “Titan,” has been plagued by repeated delays and development issues and appears to have hit a new roadblock. Prominent Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple’s car plans have “lost all visibility” and the Cupertino, California-based technology company must consider alternative strategies to make headway in the fiercely competitive automotive sector.
Tianfeng Securities analyst Mr. Guo postal Doubts were cast on Wednesday about Apple’s Project Titan, a bet on self-driving electric cars. “Apple car development seems to have lost all visibility at the moment,” Guo’s post read. “If Apple does not adopt an acquisition strategy to enter the car market, I doubt Apple Car can be put into mass production in the next few years.”
The Apple Car development seems to have lost all popularity at the moment. If Apple does not adopt an acquisition strategy to enter the car market, I doubt that Apple Car can be put into mass production in the next few years.
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apple…— Ming-Chi Kuo (@mingchikuo) September 27, 2023
Kuo’s comments seem to indicate that Apple must seek partners with expertise in the automotive industry to collaborate and help it bring its car projects to market. It’s worth noting that Apple has yet to officially comment or confirm its plans to launch electric vehicles to consumers. However, the Apple Car remains an open secret in the tech and automotive industries, especially since Apple has been looking for talent in the same field over the past few years. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the same thing back in 2016. “It’s hard to hide something when you hire over 1,000 engineers to do it,” Musk later said of Apple’s plans to compete with Tesla in electric vehicles.
Guo didn’t elaborate on his claims in his post on X (formerly Twitter), but his comments are consistent with widely reported sluggish development of the Titan program. As early as December last year, Bloomberg reported that Apple had postponed the launch of its electric car to 2026, failing to meet its 2025 target. Even more worrying are rumors that the tech giant is scrapping plans for advanced autonomous electric vehicles as current technology reportedly doesn’t align with the company’s vision for fully autonomous vehicles. Apple originally planned for the car to come without a steering wheel or pedals. This has been set aside in favor of more traditional car designs that support highway autonomous driving.
Apple has also reportedly lowered its pricing estimates for its planned electric car and hopes to price the car below $100,000 (approximately Rs 82 lakh), much lower than its initial estimate of more than $120,000 (approximately Rs 10 million). As mentioned, Apple has yet to officially communicate about its car project, and Project Titan is reportedly stuck in a “pre-prototype” stage without a final vehicle design. The only official information related to Apple’s automotive efforts came when the United States announced charges in five cases involving technology theft that allegedly benefited China, Russia and Iran. They include former Apple engineer Weibao Wang, 35, who is accused of targeting the company’s self-driving system technology, including self-driving cars, before fleeing to China.
While plans to launch an electric car are still up in the air, that hasn’t stopped Apple from flexing its brand muscles, even in a space where the tech company is still new. Although the company is still years away from launching a car, a survey released last year suggested that a significant number of U.S. consumers would buy an Apple Car. Surprisingly, Apple ranks third on the list of 45 car brands that customers believe maintain high quality standards.
