Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Blog Gene Munster Examines a Potential Apple Investment in Tesla

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
During Tesla’s brief tease of taking the company private, industry watchers frequently mentioned Apple as a potential partner.

Such a scenario would be one of the buzziest, headline-grabbing tech events one could conceive. But, would it be good biz?

Venture capitalist and longtime Apple analyst Gene Munster chimed in on a Tesla/Apple deal this week in a blog post.

Given that both companies have strengths in hardware, software, and A.I., Munster seems to believe that collaboration between the two companies would result in an exceptional product.

“Imagine all of the things you love about your iPhone, perfectly integrated with all the things Tesla owners rave about,” Munster wrote. “The two tech giants could take over the auto industry over the next 20 years as consumers embrace electric vehicles and automation.”

While there are clear synergies, Munster said merging the design culture of both companies may be what prevents a deal.

“If Tesla successfully turns the corner to profitability, the combination of the two companies is nothing more than a fairy tale, as both companies would want to retain design control,” Munster wrote. “Our bet is that Tesla is successful and reaches sustained profitability in a year.”

Munster said Tesla might agree to a $10 billion cash investment from Apple if Apple were to accept non-voting shares and have no operational influence. And, Apple would want some influence on Tesla in order to feel confident they could generate operational benefits.

Read Munster’s full note here.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
I remember reading somewhere that Apple and Tesla are like the super cool boy and the most glamorous girl at the senior prom: It is inevitable that the two of them get together somehow. I think there is some truth in that observation
 
Tesla can pick and choose from the investors that stepped forward to help take Tesla private to raise additional capital. I think it would be nice to get some investment from Apple. Elon may want to remind Tim Cook that Bill Gates invested in Apple when they were down and out after Jobs returned to Apple after Scully scuttled the company with his lack of technical expertise. Plus Tim could use some of Elon's great visionary ideas that have since been lost once Steve was gone. However, I suggest that Tesla take this opportunity to raise additional capital now and not later when something may go unexpectedly wrong and Tesla runs out of funding, forcing an extreme devaluation in the stock and allowing predatory capitalist to take Elon out. Money raised should be from good investors who will support Elon staying in control. Tesla is capital constrained now, with the pickup truck, lower priced car, other car models, Tesla semi and other pending products like software, electric planes and other ideas that Elon will soon think of need resources now to develop and to scale up manufacture. Plus there is international expansion as well. Please take advantage of the opportunity that has arisen here to raise additional money. The going private exercise has brought forth investors willing to invest into Tesla. Please take advantage of this. It is the right thing to do.
 
Tesla can pick and choose from the investors that stepped forward to help take Tesla private to raise additional capital. I think it would be nice to get some investment from Apple. Elon may want to remind Tim Cook that Bill Gates invested in Apple when they were down and out after Jobs returned to Apple after Scully scuttled the company with his lack of technical expertise. Plus Tim could use some of Elon's great visionary ideas that have since been lost once Steve was gone. However, I suggest that Tesla take this opportunity to raise additional capital now and not later when something may go unexpectedly wrong and Tesla runs out of funding, forcing an extreme devaluation in the stock and allowing predatory capitalist to take Elon out. Money raised should be from good investors who will support Elon staying in control. Tesla is capital constrained now, with the pickup truck, lower priced car, other car models, Tesla semi and other pending products like software, electric planes and other ideas that Elon will soon think of need resources now to develop and to scale up manufacture. Plus there is international expansion as well. Please take advantage of the opportunity that has arisen here to raise additional money. The going private exercise has brought forth investors willing to invest into Tesla. Please take advantage of this. It is the right thing to do.

I forgot to mention solar which will have many new products as well. Clearly Tesla is resource constrained. Going private would not have helped this situation. Raising capital in the public markets is the solution. And it will decrease short interest significantly once the deal is done thereby decreasing stock volatility and the distraction it causes. And it will also relieve the extreme pressure on the Model 3 production team since Tesla can take a more long term approach and still invest in other product lines where demand is already there i.e pickup truck.
 
Other than cash, I don't see how Apple can contribute to Tesla?
Sure, Apple designs create computer devices (iphones, etc) but they don't manufacture. Tesla's constraints are not having enough factory floor space to produce everything that comes out of design such as: Semi, Roadster, &, Tesla pickup and who knows what else it out there.

Apple doesn't have manufacturing experience. They outsource everything.
 
Other than cash, I don't see how Apple can contribute to Tesla?
Sure, Apple designs create computer devices (iphones, etc) but they don't manufacture. Tesla's constraints are not having enough factory floor space to produce everything that comes out of design such as: Semi, Roadster, &, Tesla pickup and who knows what else it out there.

Apple doesn't have manufacturing experience. They outsource everything.

Tesla needs the cash to purchase or lease new factory space and hire more factory workers and Apple needs the vision. Apple is sitting on 160B in cash. And Apple would be a good investor to have because they are more likely to listen to Elon than other investors which don't understand technology. Plus the iphone has good market share and a lot of potential if you look at the future of communications and mobile computing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WentOffGrid
I remember reading somewhere that Apple and Tesla are like the super cool boy and the most glamorous girl at the senior prom: It is inevitable that the two of them get together somehow. I think there is some truth in that observation
....with the resulting high drama of a entirely predictable fiery break-up?

"You've got a company with a control freak culture with an incredibly strong sense of vision, I've a [in]famously hardcore hands--on CEO with a laser focus on a vision. Let's work together! What could possibly go wrong?"
 
Apple doesn't have manufacturing experience. They outsource everything.
First off, Apple still has a thousand or more people working on their automated driving project. But more importantly Apple is, always has been, very actively involved in the manufacturing cycle. Cook, from Jobs' return in the 90's onward, was a crucial mastermind of manufacturing logistics. Foxconn is a big ingredient of Apple's manufacturing but thinking Apple isn't highly active in organizing the manufacturing end, that they just toss it over the wall and forget about it, doesn't square with reality.

The problem isn't really a lack know-how (other than the specific parts that Tesla is also short on, automobiles), it's the difficulty of folding the experience in.
 
Last edited: