The Apple Watch comes out in
April. But, could the company’s next potentially revolutionary product
be called the Apple Car? Or, the iMobile?
Apple
is reportedly looking to add an electric car to its list of
revolutionary products. The tech giant has apparently put “several
hundred” of its employees to work on a secret project to develop its own
branded electric automobile, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cites anonymous sources.
The
WSJ sources claim the project is code-named “Titan” and that early
designs show a vehicle that looks similar to a minivan. Apple is in the
early stages of development and, assuming the project isn’t scrapped at
some point, it could still be many years before the tech giant unveils
the vehicle at one of its much-hyped product events.
Apple (AAPL) did not comment on the WSJ article, nor did it comment on a Financial Times report
earlier in the day that said the company had hired a team of auto
technology and design experts. FT noted the possibility that Apple could
simply have brought on the team to work on its in-car entertainment
platform, CarPlay.
Electric
cars represent a very small, but rapidly growing, segment of the U.S.
auto industry. Almost 120,000 of the plug-in vehicles were sold in the U.S. last year
-- a 23% bump from 2013 and 128% more than the previous year. Elon
Musk’s Tesla Motors TSLA is one of the best known purveyors of electric
cars, but leading automakers such as General Motors GM, Nissan NSANY and
Toyota TM all produce popular electric models.
Apple’s
tech rival, Google GOOG, has also taken steps to enter the auto
industry, though the online search company is working to develop a
driverless car. Google is also currently rumored to be working on
developing a ride-hailing service that could rival Uber.
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