Apple’s long-rumored car project, supposedly codenamed Project Titan, could be considered an especially adventurous one for the Cupertino firm. Now, Jean-Louis Gassée, a former high-profile executive of the company, has wrote a column explaining the possible rationale behind the venture.
Gassée worked at Apple from 1981 until 1990, during that time holding several influential posts. In a column published today for Monday Note, he suggests that Apple could reach profit margins far beyond those currently standard in the car-making industry. Apple, he notes, long ago pulled off this trick with the iPod, the now legendary music player which debuted in an already saturated market.
Apple could also trump what Gassée has called the “laughably complicated” User Interface still commonplace with in-car technology, and use its financial muscle to negotiate favorable supply deals for whatever parts are required in bulk. However, for all of his compelling arguments, Gassée concludes that the Apple car rumors “don’t obligate the company to a vehicle, in 2019, or at any other date.”
