Apple wants to grab the Tesla car cake? Musk hinted that he would build a mobile phone

Musk recently hinted that Tesla will launch a phone with unique features. Considering the direction Tesla is headed, the phone makes a lot of sense, especially as a hedge against Apple's rumored entry into the electric car space.

Tesla and Apple have similar approaches in their respective markets, and both have similar advantages. Apple was founded by charismatic leader Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk did a better job than Tim Cook in mimicking Jobs' unique approach to management and product creation.

Both companies have impressive brand loyalty to their clients, accurate market valuations, and several large companies competing with them. Tesla doesn't do much marketing and has a history of poor quality control. While Apple has drastically reduced marketing, it remains the market leader in this regard, with Apple tending to set standards in terms of product quality.

The correlation between iPhone users and Tesla buyers is very high. So if Apple launches a car that is highly integrated into Apple's ecosystem, it could take a sizable share from Tesla.

Of all the upcoming Tesla challengers, Apple is the biggest threat because of its extremely high customer loyalty, visibility, and sizable marketing budget. Apple's cash reserves make it a fearsome competitor to Tesla in the future.

Finally, smartphones are becoming the key to the new Tesla vehicles, which are already somewhat integrated with Tesla's in-vehicle audiovisual technology. Apple will have an advantage in this integration and could break interoperability with Tesla while driving Apple users away from Tesla cars. This last point is likely to be an important reason for Musk to consider making a mobile phone.

Rumor has it that this Tesla phone is expected to use Qualcomm's high-end Snapdragon 8 series processor, the color matches the color of the Tesla car, as the car key of the Tesla car can operate better than any other mobile phone, and may be connected to the Starlink network.

But normally, connecting a smartphone to a satellite requires a huge antenna and a high-powered radio. However, if they can make it work, it will give Tesla mobile phone users a huge and unique advantage, they can get relatively high bandwidth connections in the years before 5G comes out.

However, I think a better approach would be to put a satellite connection into the car, which would do a better job of hiding the large antenna, and then having the phone connected via the car when the 5G network is unavailable or you want to watch a movie (bypassing the data cap). The car will then get an always-on satellite connection for remote operation and more reliable reporting of attempted theft or parking lot damage.

Finally, as smartphones become car keys, Tesla phones may be further integrated with Tesla vehicles. For example, it can have specialized buttons to lock, unlock, position the vehicle, and use the car's external speakers to help get people's attention. If there's an autopilot feature and want it to pick you up, this phone can also help the car locate you, which is especially handy for those of us who forget to park.

If Musk is more visionary than Tim Cook on the Apple Watch, he'll make those features configurable so they're compatible with other cars, and the phone could be the first step in enticeing these people to buy Tesla cars.

By the way, Tesla smartwatches may be more interesting to use with cars, but rumors haven't been heard about this yet. As for Tesla's experience in making phones, keep in mind that Qualcomm helped Apple launch its first iPhone, and since then, their capabilities have become even more powerful. With Qualcomm's help, Tesla started with market-leading mobile phone technology and then added car features.

Although neither Tesla nor Apple has proven to be great partners, Qualcomm can work well with anyone and succeed in helping Apple get started much later than it is now. With Qualcomm's help, Tesla may have more than just shut down Apple's mobile phone technology advantages. Considering Qualcomm's work on automotive AV and autonomous driving, they have more automotive experience than Apple.

Although Tesla started late on the phone, Qualcomm will help close that gap; when it comes to cars, Tesla knows far more than Apple. If Tesla can improve its quality to the level it needs to achieve, they should offer a better driving experience than Apple. In addition, the regulatory hurdles surrounding the manufacture of cars are much more difficult to overcome than making mobile phones, so it can be said that Tesla's cooperation with Qualcomm is much faster than Apple's time in the market with only new cars.