Amid rumors that Apple is developing an electric vehicle, former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has shared his opinion on Apple's plans, suggesting the Cupertino company avoid getting into a business with such low margins.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Akerson said that Apple may be underestimating the difficulty of operating in the car business, as it's hard to navigate regulatory and safety requirements. "A lot of people who don't ever operate in it don't understand and have a tendency to underestimate," he said
"They'd better think carefully if they want to get into the hard-core manufacturing," he said of Apple. "We take steel, raw steel, and turn it into car. They have no idea what they're getting into if they get into that."
According to Akerson, Apple should stick with the iPhone, which has much higher margins than a car and none of the issues with safety. As highlighted by Bloomberg, while Apple made $18 billion in December with a gross margin of 39.9 percent, GM made just $2 billion with a gross margin of 14 percent.
Akerson doesn't believe Apple should get into the car business, but he does admire Apple's entrance into the car infotainment arena with CarPlay. Speaking on his time as CEO of General Motors, Akerson said that he absolutely would have partnered with Apple. "I'd have turned over the infotainment and interconnectivity of every car."
News of Apple's electric car plans surfaced last week after The Wall Street Journal shared details on a secret project at the company. Apple is said to have hundreds of employees working on the car in a secret research lab near its Cupertino headquarters. The car, which is electric, could potentially resemble a minivan.
Wednesday October 23, 2024 1:41 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps.
Below, we outline which U.S. states offer the feature, and additional states that have committed to rolling it out in the feature in...
Wednesday October 23, 2024 9:38 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple suppliers will begin mass production of the fourth-generation iPhone SE in December, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a blog post.
The fourth-generation iPhone SE is expected to have a similar design as the base iPhone 14, with rumored features including a 6.1-inch OLED display, Face ID, a newer A-series chip, a USB-C port, a single 48-megapixel rear camera, 8GB of RAM...
Thursday October 24, 2024 10:36 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased that the company has an "exciting week of announcements" planned next week. Joswiak said to "Mac" your calendars, and the post includes an animated icon for the Finder app on the Mac, so it is clear that at least some of next week's announcements will be related to the Mac.
Subscribe to MacRumors on YouTube for more videos!
Below, we have...
Thursday October 24, 2024 9:19 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple's Greg Joswiak today made it clear that Apple plans to reveal new products next week, teasing refreshed Macs. In a social media post, Joswiak said to "Mac your calendars" because there's an exciting week of announcements that start on Monday morning.
With Joswiak's announcement, it appears that there will not be a dedicated October event for Macs this year, with Apple instead...
Amazon today has the 42mm GPS Apple Watch Series 10 for the new all-time low price of $366.28, down from $399.00. This sale is only available in the Rose Gold Aluminum model, and Amazon provides an expected delivery date of October 28 for most United States residences.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Amazon. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...
Friday October 25, 2024 7:45 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
On October 28, Apple is expected to release macOS Sequoia 15.1, bringing to Macs the first Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools, new Siri features, Smart Replies, and more. In addition, macOS 15.1 adds a handful of welcome tweaks and improvements to existing Mac capabilities.
Here's what we can expect from the first major update to macOS Sequoia later this month. Note that...
Thursday October 24, 2024 11:43 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today released a new firmware update for the AirPods Pro 2, with the software available for both the USB-C and Lightning models. The AirPods Pro 2 firmware has a build number of 7B19, up from the 7A305 firmware released in September.
The new AirPods Pro 2 firmware comes just ahead of when Apple plans to launch Hearing Health features in iOS 18.1. Hearing Health includes a hearing test...
Wednesday October 23, 2024 6:55 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's Mac mini has long been a powerhouse in a compact form, offering impressive performance in a small package. With rumors swirling about a completely overhauled new model that is likely just days away from being announced, anticipation is building for what Apple has in store.
From enhanced connectivity to major hardware upgrades, the upcoming Mac mini promises to bring significant...
"Weve learned and struggled for a few years here figuring out how to make a decent phone. PC guys are not going to just figure this out. Theyre not going to just walk in."
Image (https://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2015/02/danakerson-250x188.jpg)Amid rumors that Apple is developing an electric vehicle, former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has shared his opinion on Apple's plans, suggesting the Cupertino company avoid getting into a business with such low margins.
In an interview with Bloomberg (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-18/former-gm-ceo-akerson-cautions-apple-on-trials-of-making-cars), Akerson said that Apple may be underestimating the difficulty of operating in the car business, as it's hard to navigate regulatory and safety requirements. "A lot of people who don't ever operate in it don't understand and have a tendency to underestimate," he saidAccording to Akerson, Apple should stick with the iPhone, which has much higher margins than a car and none of the issues with safety. As highlighted by Bloomberg, while Apple made $18 billion in December with a gross margin of 39.9 percent, GM made just $2 billion with a gross margin of 14 percent.
Akerson doesn't believe Apple should get into the car business, but he does admire Apple's entrance into the car infotainment arena with CarPlay. Speaking on his time as CEO of General Motors, Akerson said that he absolutely would have partnered with Apple. "I'd have turned over the infotainment and interconnectivity of every car."
News of Apple's electric car plans surfaced last week (https://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/13/apple-working-on-electric-car/) after The Wall Street Journal shared details on a secret project at the company. Apple is said to have hundreds of employees working on the car in a secret research lab near its Cupertino headquarters. The car, which is electric, could potentially resemble a minivan.
Article Link: Former GM CEO on Apple Car: 'They Have No Idea What They're Getting Into' (https://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/18/former-gm-ceo-on-apple-car/)
Phone industry incumbents all over again - circa 2007. We'll see.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are Apple's newest iPhones and follow last year's iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, but how different are the two latest models, and what exactly does a "Pro" device offer?
Amid rumors that Apple is developing an electric vehicle, former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has shared his opinion on Apple's plans, suggesting the Cupertino company avoid getting into a business with such low margins.
