The late Apple co-founder took “a couple of walks” with Fadell as the US auto industry faced potential collapse, according to a Bloomberg interview. The fellow executives discussed how Apple might approach such a product.
“If we were to build a car, what would we build? What would a dashboard be?” the pair asked. “How would you fuel it or power it?”
Jobs never made the decision to enter the automotive market before his death in 2011, instead focusing on the iPhone’s continued growth. Times have since changed, however, as the smartphone market becomes saturated.
Apple currently retains a few hundred billion dollars in its war chest, giving the company plenty of funding to enter a new segment. Analysts view the automotive market as ripe for disruption, on the cusp of a broad transition toward electrification and autonomous operation.
“A car has batteries; it has a computer; it has a motor; and it has mechanical structure,” Fadell said. “If you look at an iPhone, it has all the same things. It even has a motor in it.”
Fadell, now chief executive of Alphabet’s (Google’s) Nest division, cautions that he does not have firsthand knowledge of Apple’s car plans, however separate reports suggest several hundred employees have been dedicated to the project. The company is said to have set an ambitious launch target, aiming to bring a car to market by 2020.
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