Apple has enough finance that it will eventually find someone to build their EVs for them. And Tesla will still be unable to access anything in those cars such as entertainment, autonomy... etc.
The difficult part for Apple and any Tesla competitor is making a car that is equal or better than a Tesla for around the same price and making money.
It is fairly unlikely Apple or their partner can build the non-software part of the car cheaper than Tesla, Tesla already has all the software they need including FSD.
Apple (or whoever) has to develop the software and compete in the market place.
Outside of the cars themselves, software (FSD) and entertainment are potential income streams.
I think Apple would be happy to more or less break-even on the car, and would aim to make money from the software.
But it is a tough business, simply making the car compelling via software is hard, a combination of software and hardware is needed.
In addition, how does the car supplier make money?
There are 2 options:-
- Mark up the cost of the car.
- Take a cut from software revenues.
IMO it is no accident some of the companies dealing with Apple have asked for a slice of the software revenues.
Contrast this to Tesla, they already have the software revenues, so they have scope to price the car competitively, if they really need to.
So Apple might (or might not) end up being a competitor, there is plenty of market there available for all at present, but it is only available easily for the next 3-5 years. Arriving when the guests are leaving the party, or when the Super Bowl is over, is bad timing.
Once EVs are at saturation close to 100% of new car sales, we will have competition, that isn't a great time for a new player to enter the market.