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Apple shrinks project Titan - still has $250B cash - Tesla purchase?

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I had never thought of solar city as a poison pill, or a way to extract more money out of Apple if there is a hostile take over.

Can't predict the future.
 
I have contemplated this future:

Tesla's mission is to speed up our transition to electric vehicles so it
1) Creates several vehicles (S, 3, bus, truck, ... showing the way)
2) Creates the fossil-fuel free infrastructure (Gigafactory, batteries, solar, Supercharging network)

Other manufacturers get interested see the electric light, so then Tesla splits in two:
1) Tesla Vehicles is sold e.g. to Apple, Daimler, Toyota. or whoever else finds themselves behind in the electric car switchover.
2) Tesla Energy provides batteries, and solar-based charging network to every car maker.

Elon takes the money—from the Vehicles sale—to SpaceX, and flies to Mars.
 
"Apple has reportedly chopped Project Titan's staff in half after months of rumors that it was unhappy with the progress of the division."

*Reportedly" - how many Apple rumors are actually right? Not many!

More likely Apple researched all sorts of vehicle angles, and has now decided what to focus on. The parts they decided not to do, not to move to Research into Development, got cut/moved around. Even if this report is to believed, Titan is still around and I suspect in transition from R to D. The open question is, what did they decide to build? And with whom (if anyone)?
 
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So in the last couple days these two things have happened:

1 - Musk announced that Tesla has pulled significant new capabilities out of existing autopilot hardware, showing the world Tesla is still pulling rabbits out of hats. Apple may not be able to innovate on its own - but it can buy someone who can.

2 - Apple has reportedly chopped Project Titan's staff in half after months of rumors that it was unhappy with the progress of the division.

Tesla has a market cap of $30B - and Apple is still sitting on $250B in cash. It could swallow Tesla without even taking time to chew.

GM reportedly paid $1B for Cruise - a startup with 12 employees and no product.

That makes Tesla look like a great buy - for $30B you can buy an actual carmaker with actual sales, a store network, a rapid charging network, the most advanced autonomous driving technology available, hundreds of thousands of cars on the road gathering data for fleet learning, one helluva brand name, hundreds of thousands of orders for a product which does not yet exist and a new charismatic genius leader to give Apple the sexy back that was lost when Steve Jobs passed away.

Any fresh thoughts? This has been beat to death in the past but Apple pivoting on Titan at the same time that Tesla announces rather stunning new progress on existing autopilot hardware has got me thinking again...

One would think that Apple has the software figured out and need manufacturing partner. Tesla is probably not the best fit.

My take on Apple's internal restructuring is that they decided to delay the project.
 
Do we really want Tesla to be taken over by Apple??

You just know they're going to add a proprietary charge cable that nobody else ... oh...
Well, you know they're not going to allow you to change the battery yourself ... oh...
Well, you know their maps will suck ... argh!


Screw it. Apple! Apple! Apple!
Funny stuff. Although, to be fair, I find Apple's Maps and navigation to be more accurate than Tesla's. If I could upgrade my Tesla's battery with a hair dryer and an assortment of cheap plastic spudgers I'd probably do it.
 
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An Apple to take over would bad. Apple is an awful company run by a liar and crook.

If it was unlikely in the past it seems even more unlikely now with all the Model 3 reservations. They should be able to get any of the capital they need without having to kowtow to anybody like Apple.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong -and some surely will- but the price of a buyout will depend on a decision by the major shareholders and will overrule Mr Musk's aspiration of an increase from $30B to $1T it is more likely to be a low multiple of $30B. As a long term holder who bought in more than two and a half years ago I have to say that I am now slightly underwater despite the tremendous advances in production capability, the build-out of the supercharger networks, and the significant enhancements to the vehicles. I know Mr Musk has stated that he may be setting the dial for high growth at the expense of stockholders so he can't blame them if they start looking out for any opportunity to further their own interests. A take over of the car division plus a share of the Gigafactory if Panasonic can be brought on side would be a good fit.

Anyone following Spacex knows what a huge success it is despite problems with that pesky 2nd stage and that is the nicer problem to have rather than the Falcon itself which seems to be stable despite the recent pyrotechnics occurring on the launchpad. I think Mr Musk needs to be in that arena as well as re-organising Tesla Energy

Finally I, myself, don`t see anyone purchasing a rooftop PV system from the Tesla store but an Apple Pro or Iphone setup which is in communication with a car in the showroom could well promote a conquest sale for any sales prospect who happens to be a Windows user.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong -and some surely will- but the price of a buyout will depend on a decision by the major shareholders and will overrule Mr Musk's aspiration of an increase from $30B to $1T it is more likely to be a low multiple of $30B.

I think you are correct - but if Musk doesn't want a takeover he could say something like "If you sell Tesla I'm outta here." Maybe some shareholders like you think that would be a good thing actually, but I don't know if most would.
 
Not a huge Apple fan... so they'd lose me as a customer. Let Musk be Musk.
I'm a fan of Apple and Tesla but Apple would lose me if they bought Tesla with Solar City included in the package. I don't think any of this will happen though as Apple doesn't need or want a drag on its profits. Pretty well run management team and company.