Question

1. Compare the pros and cons if Apple enters the car business vs stays focused on providing software for future cars?

2. What competitive advantages does Apple have to enter the business?

3. If both businesses are not the optimal choice for Apple, which industry do you think Apple shall enter?

4. If you have five minutes with Tim Cook, what advice would you offer?

Answer 1

A1)

Pros :

1. Apple can dominate the car market as it is a budding industry wrt electric and self driving car sectors.These sectors require a lot of capital on building new technology, some of which Apple already has like AI, DeepVision, Navigation capabilities etc. Apple Inc. with its recent takeover of the premium smartphone market can afford it also.

2. Apple will be able to direct a lot of software market and revenue if it builds the hardware by itself.

3. This can be a good competitive strategy against apple's main rivals like Alphabet Inc. which is already developing its self-drive automobile sector through WayMo.

4. With Apple's exisiting products, it can easily develop a seamless integration system which will make existing Apple Users to continue being in the apple ecosystem while commuting.

Cons :

1. There is a lot of new technology invloved that requires being familiar with already existing. Apple's policy of constant innovation and in-house development might not work here as it requires time.

2. Apple will have to compete with successful startups like Tesla and premium-luxury companies which already has a headstart in the market and this might lead to Apple draining its funds for something to be bought by companies like these.

3. Apple's niche was always consumer electronics and software products unlike other technological companies like Google Inc. and that is what they are probably only good at. Venturing into a completely new industry will hence be a big risk that would disrupt Apple's consumer base.

Apple's Competitive Advantage

Apple already has efforts to provide some core software servives that is vital for autombobile manufacturers in the present technological scenario.One such service is CarPlay. It is a seamless software that provides navigational and infotainment solutions to the driver and passengers. Another is Apple Maps. It only comes second to Google Maps among thousands of applications which lets you navigate both in terms of user base and features.

Apple, being the wealthiest company in the list, can eaily buy out successful startups in this industry, just like how Google did it with WayMo and can easily build on the technology.

If both businessess are not optimal, Apple can try venturing into the Virtual Reality Technology. Just like how Facebook did it with the Oculus Rift, Apple needs to design and market a hardware product and mass produce it. This particular hardware then can be integrated with existing 3D mapping and VR software technology apple uses in its native iOS apps and the Camera App to make it functional. This is will be a big leap through in technology when headed by a innovation giant like Apple and it will not be diificult either considering how much Apple has invested in developing VR capabilities.

One suggestion from me to Tim Cook will be to release the next versions of the existing product lineups of Apple only when there is a major breakthrough in innovation and design and not for simply the sake of realeasing it for market gains.