I like the Apple comparison.
Like Apple they won't build the most cellphones in the world, or build the most computers.
But they could have the highest market cap.
Like apple they understood that building a network around their products is the key to success in this new field Itunes/Appstore vs Superchargers/Swapstations, Bigscreen vs. BigBattery
and a CEO with a high skills in engineering rather then Design/Marketing, although Elon is good at marketing too.
I'm not a fan of the Apple comparison. Sure, Apple design some great products and so does Tesla. However, unlike Apple, Tesla wants to
reduce the cost of electric transportation to make it more accessible for the masses (which is not very Apple-like). I'm not saying they'll always be cheaper than their competitors on a "like-for-like" basis, but they want to continue to make EVs more and more affordable. Elon said at the shareholders meeting last year that he would prefer to sacrifice margin to make Gen III more affordable than try to maintain higher margins. You would
never hear something like that from an Apple executive.
Another thing that frequently gets mentioned, which goes along with what I said above, is that the profits from the Model S are used to develop the next generation of more affordable vehicles. Then the profits from those vehicles will be used to make the next generation more affordable and so on. I'm sure, eventually, they'll diversify into other vehicles that aren't as affordable as the Gen III - like developing a new Roadster, for example. However, that still doesn't take away from the fact that Tesla wants to make affordable EVs in order to spur the competition on and, therefore, to accelerate the advent of electric propulsion as the default form of transportation. The profits from any more expensive vehicle will be ploughed into R&D for more affordable vehicles, just like the profits from the Model S are now.
Also, Tesla (and SpaceX for that matter) tend to keep their core manufacturing capability in-house. They haven't outsourced most of their manufacturing like Apple. IMO, this is one Tesla's massive advantages over their competitors. It's also why they are so nimble and able to innovate through to production so quickly.
One other major differentiator is that, even though the superchargers are proprietary technology, Elon keeps on saying that they do not want to make a closed system. There's no "walled garden" mentality like there is at Apple. They had to develop the supercharger technology, not because they want to lock everyone else out, but because the other DC fast charging technology sucks in comparison. Elon has said repeatedly that they are more than happy to have other companies use the technology, but anyone else who uses it has to contribute to the cost of the network and have the same "free for life" model that Tesla has.
Tesla is about electric propulsion.
So I can imagine Tesla will step into the field of Electric Supersonic Jets in a decade or so.
So taking additional market cap of Boeing and Airbus with higher margins if they will be the only one who figures out how to build a Electric Supersonic Vertical Take of and Landing Jet, (Elon said he has "an idea for that")
I could see this happening eventually. I think Elon wouldn't be able to rest if someone didn't do something like this eventually and he is well placed to make this happen, but only once Tesla is humming along nicely to the point where he does not have to be so involved in the day to day running of the company (i.e. when he can finally hand over the title of CEO to someone else).
Given all that I've said in this post and the implication that Tesla have a huge technological lead over their competitors, I believe that they will be MASSIVELY bigger than Porsche and will likely surpass BMW one day. Definitely in terms of volume and highly likely in revenue as well.
