Zhejiang car network hot observation:Canceling car manufacturing is a relief for Apple. To the outside world, it was a bombshell.
When the hustle and bustle gradually dissipates, those bigwigs who are closely related to Apple's car manufacturing may still be difficult to calm down. Once upon a time, they were like-minded and confident in changing the automotive industry. Now, the Apple car has not waited for that day to begin to die. They have always been very vigilant, and it is inevitable that there will be chills and uneasiness in their hearts.
This is not only the loss of Apple, which makes them feel the sadness of the death of the rabbit and the fox, but more importantly, Apple, a technology giant that brings together the world's top talents, after ten years of sharpening the sword, will lose confidence in subverting the traditional automotive industry through electrification and intelligence, and begin to get lost.
What exactly is the reason why Apple gave up building cars
Apple canceled the continuation of car manufacturing, and it itself did not announce too many details. It's just that the outside world has found many reasons for its analysis, including personnel turmoil, executive turnover, changing directions, and difficulties in autonomous driving technology.
In fact, most of the reasons for external analysis are superficial, and it is easy to confuse the public and cover up the truth. The fundamental reason for Apple's halfway car construction is still the failure to achieve breakthrough results, and it is not ruled out that Apple may have discovered that the autonomous driving it ambitiously pursued back then may be a dead end; At the same time, it may not be optimistic that electric vehicles can disrupt traditional combustion vehicles. Because everyone understands that people will only stop it if there is nothing hopeful, and if there is a glimmer of hope, it is unlikely to go to the point of giving up. What's more, ten years of hard work have cost Apple more than 10 billion US dollars, equivalent to more than 70 billion yuan, which is not a small amount.
Apple started building cars in 2014. That year was also a happy time in Apple's car-making history. According to the New York Times, "It was the days when investors, executives, engineers and companies were chasing self-driving cars. As Apple began testing prototypes on California's public roads, voices in Silicon Valley were positive, insisting that self-driving cars would soon become widespread and that Apple didn't want to be left behind."
Apple's optimism has infected itself and inspired the world. Subsequently, the new forces were very active in building cars, mushrooming after a rain, and the enthusiasm soared to the sky. It's just that the next reality is not so simple. The cruel fact is that although Apple has a large number of top talents in the world and is full of wisdom, it has changed wave after wave, but it is impossible to achieve substantial success by tossing and turning. The electric vehicles it manufactures have not been taken out because they have not achieved a disruptive breakthrough; The autonomous driving technology it pursues is capricious, sometimes L5, then L4, and then L2+, which shows how difficult it is to obtain reliable intelligent driving technology.
Looking at the world, outside of Apple, autonomous driving technology is also struggling and difficult to break through, and the most advanced accidents in intelligent driving are also frustrating. Coupled with the range, energy replenishment and flammability problems exposed by electrification itself, it is difficult to defeat traditional fuel vehicles. Especially since last year, some auto giants have adjusted their electrification strategies. The clever Apple, apparently seeing in these problems that its previous ambitions, was nothing more than a dream.
Since it can't get a subversive crushing advantage, for a technology giant like Apple, it is unwilling to participate in the homogeneous competition, and it is by no means that it can't build a car. Therefore, judging the situation and simply withdrawing from the field of car manufacturing has naturally become its inevitable choice.
The wave of subverting traditional fuel vehicles may be seriously affected
Ten years of car building, although Apple has not launched a single model, this does not affect its ability to bring people dreams. The basic logic of this fantasy is that the pursuit and efforts of the world's top technology companies cannot be gratuitous, but are expected to become a reality. Because the Apple mobile phone, which people didn't even dare to think about before, has actually been built.
With this kind of dreamy existence, the trend of electrification and intelligence is naturally easy to be recognized by people, whether it is the capital market or car consumers who like new things. At the same time, policymakers and traditional auto giants have also turned to embrace electrification and intelligence, as if the spring of subverting traditional fuel vehicles will soon come.
It can be said that it was precisely because of Apple's participation that it played a very important role in encouraging and promoting the development of electrification and intelligence in the automotive industry.
Now, the important players of the year have suddenly gone out, at least the dreams it once brought to people are shattered. Even if other partners, participants and followers can still move forward, people still have to ask: Apple, a top tech giant, has retreated, will other companies be more technologically powerful than Apple? Can they really solve problems that Apple can't?
Judging from the current situation, it is estimated that no company dares to jump out and claim that it has surpassed Apple in terms of overall scientific and technological strength and can throw Apple out of the street.
Then, Apple's retreat is undoubtedly a major blow to those subversives of traditional fuel vehicles. Because this technological banner is gone, how many people will still be as optimistic about autonomous driving technology as before? And this optimism is an important driving force for the previous subversion of the trend of traditional fuel vehicles, and its setback cannot not have a serious impact on this tide.
Those followers of the outlet, how to continue to tell stories
Apple's dream of building a car was shattered, although it came suddenly, those car company bigwigs who relied on electrification and intelligence to take off still quickly made their own responses.
Some ridiculed Apple for being out so quickly; Some satirize that cross-border car building is not so simple, and take the opportunity to promote their own brand; Others are glad. It seems that only Lei Jun and Musk may have smelled that this incident is extraordinary.
Lei Jun first expressed shock, and then quickly distanced himself from Apple's half-way approach to reassuring consumers. He said: "Xiaomi's strategy is 'people, cars and all ecology', we know the difficulty of building a car, and we still made an extremely firm strategic choice three years ago, and seriously built a good car for rice noodles."
Musk, who has always been quick to talk, only used two expressions of salute and smoking this time to face the Apple slip incident. Although he did not clearly express his inner thoughts, he could still see that he was very cautious about this matter. Perhaps, he is still continuing to assess the possible impact of this incident. But the tribute should show his affirmation of Apple, and may even be a thank you to Apple for joining the team of subverting traditional fuel vehicles before. Smoking, perhaps, expresses that he will be deeply thinking about it.
But no matter what these bigwigs think now, with Apple's defeat in the field of car manufacturing, there is a grim fact that must be directly faced, that is, the self-driving technology, which was once an important selling point of electric vehicles, will be greatly reduced in terms of power. This will increase the pressure on those car companies that focus on autonomous driving.
Some analysts believe that relying on Apple's endorsement and the huge imagination it has brought to people in technology, some subversives such as Tesla have advocated autonomous driving technology, which can be described as a fish in water. In particular, Apple's existence, and its penchant for remaining silent, can better demonstrate the technological strength and advancement of disruptors such as Tesla, and continue to create topics to guide the consumption and trend of electric vehicles. Now that Apple suddenly no longer endorses, it is up to Tesla and other subversives to sing their own operas, and the difficulty can be imagined. If it is still difficult to make substantial progress in autonomous driving technology, it is difficult to say whether consumers will still believe in the so-called autonomous driving technology.
How to continue to tell a powerful story for the intelligent technology of electric vehicles has become a top priority.
Some industry insiders said that intelligence is closely related to electrification, and it is also an important weight in trying to subvert traditional fuel vehicles. As the ultimate ideal and goal of intelligent autonomous driving technology, once people can't see hope, all electrified car companies supported by intelligent technology will face the problem of how to continue to tell a good story. If we only rely on the current half-baked state of intelligent assisted driving, it is likely to gradually lose its appeal to consumers, and it is not impossible for traditional fuel vehicles to catch up. In particular, if the autonomous driving technology has been far away, it is ultimately judged that it cannot be realized, and the current popular intelligent assistance technology, if the reliability can not be well improved, once there are more safety problems, then it is not ruled out that the policy may be tightened on intelligent driving.
Therefore, it is difficult for most car companies that rely on electrification and intelligence to stay out of the situation. Watching the fire from the other side and drawing a clear line can only be a superficial measure of rights and interests, and it is far from enough. Now that the storm has come, the previously hyped concept and the painted pie have been exposed, and it is only possible to get through the difficulties by looking for a new story.
However, it is easier said than done to tell a new story. Perhaps giving up illusions, seeking truth from facts, respecting the law, respecting the market, and speaking with real strength is the best way out and the most beautiful story.
"Zhejiang Car Network" original, main writer: Zhuang Zhou.