Munster says you won’t be buying an Apple Car for close to a decade


Apple Car might be coming, but will it be special?
Apple Car could be up to 10 years away.
Photo: Aristomenis Tsirbas/Freelancer

Project Titan, Apple’s hundreds-strong car initiative, may be continuing to ramp up, but according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, it’ll be a while before we see an Apple car.

In a new research note to clients, Munster suggests that an Apple-branded automobile is close to a decade away — although that’s not going to stop it from affecting Apple’s stock price in the meantime.

Because who needs more than rumors to decide how Apple’s doing, right?

Munster suggests an Apple Car is likely to be electric, given Apple’s continued focus on environmental issues, epitomized by Tim Cook’s description of Apple as being a “force for good” in the world.

Interestingly, Munster says he can see the car — which, unsurprisingly, he thinks will be targeted at the high-end market — doing particularly well in the United States, despite the fact that the car market is saturated.

Why? Because if Apple does make a self-driving vehicle, the product could appeal to users who want to cut down on multiple-car ownership.

“The majority of these vehicles sit idle at any given time,” Munster writes. “Autonomous vehicles should significantly help this inefficiency by allowing families to own fewer cars over the long-term by using a single vehicle.”

Given Munster’s long-time championing of a physical Apple TV set — which we now know is unlikely to happen — he’s being a bit coy about giving a cast-iron guarantee that an Apple Car will hit the road at some point.

“As we recently learned with the television, just because Apple is working on a project does not mean it will become a reality,” Munster continues. “Although the car market is much more significant than the TV market in terms of not only revenue, but societal importance, and likely more poised for meaningful disruption.”

Hey, at least he’s learned his lesson.

Via: Apple Insider