According to the article by the media website Driven, Tesla may be developing an Apple-like app store that allows users of its electric vehicles to download and install applications through the store, thereby creating a software and hardware ecological chain of Tesla's own brand.
It is reported that after tesla's on-board interface was upgraded to the latest V11 version in December last year, a customizable icon bar appeared at the bottom of the touch screen in the car.
That led some to speculate that Musk would announce plans for the app store on an earnings call in late January, but the results didn't.
On February 6, local time, Sawyer Merritt, a Tesla investor who is considered to be "aware of the inside story", forwarded a video of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs introducing the app store on Twitter.
He also said in a post reprinted: "There are rumors that something similar will soon appear on something with four wheels that begin with T. ”
Subsequently, the tweet was retweeted by Teslascope, a Twitter account with the same name as Tesla's travel tracking app.
The account said: "The news has spread. Tesla has been developing its own 'app store' since around May 2021 and will be officially launched before Cybertruck is delivered. We expect Tesla to share during its earnings call, even though Elon Musk has previously revealed that 2022 will be Tesla's software year. ”
The term "year of software" could refer to Musk's comments on Tesla's fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call, when he said fully autonomous driving (FSD) software would create "the largest increase in value of any asset class in Tesla's history."
Tesla CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Zachary Kirkhorn agrees. "With the rapid development of FSD, software-based profits will eventually become a powerful complement to the profits from selling hardware," he said. I think the software part of Tesla's business is what really needs to be paid attention to. ”
Tesla first proposed the concept of "software on wheels" in the electric car series, and if Tesla continues to launch an app store, its image will be far more limited to electric vehicle manufacturers.
At that time, the position of Apple and Android in the electric vehicle software market will be challenged. Once Tesla launches its own app store, apple CarPlay and Android Auto, two in-vehicle systems, will be excluded from its electric car software.
However, the process is not like introducing apps to compete with companies such as Volvo and PoleStar. The companies have incorporated Android Automotive, Google's Android-based in-car entertainment system operating system, into their electric vehicles, allowing access to vehicle-specific apps through the Google Play Store.
CarPlay is an in-vehicle system developed by Apple that can seamlessly combine the user's iOS device, iOS user experience and dashboard system. As long as the car has CarPlay function, you can connect to the iPhone, use the car's display, control keys or use Siri to interact with it, and the owner can answer calls, listen to music, send and receive emails, watch navigation, etc.
Android Auto is similar to Car Play, which can project apps and other content from the phone to the car, while Android Automotive features are more independent, with its own Play Store and music playback features.
One user noted that introducing apps may not generate a lot of revenue per car, but the benefits of having your own app store will go beyond increasing app subscriptions.
In addition, some users call this app store a higher-order product, generating thousands of dollars more revenue per product than mobile phones.
The key to this is the "ecosystem". Once users set up the operating system, they are more reluctant to change brands, which is why Apple and Android users get dimensional years.
Previous Wall Street news articles also pointed out that Tesla's business model will undergo a major transformation, and its main source of revenue will no longer be the purchase transaction of the car (sales × price), but the software and service revenue (platform users × ARPU) that people use the product for several years.
When people get into a Tesla, they enter a unique ecosystem built by Tesla and continue to enjoy all kinds of paid services for it, thus consolidating Tesla's position as the world's leading automaker for years to come.
Tesla itself has a relatively large and relatively high user base, and the reuse rate of its services by users is very high. These services are able to provide Tesla with a steady stream of high profits and cash flow, and further improve the user experience and platform stickiness.
At the same time, the high stickiness and high willingness to pay customer base also means that Tesla is expected to earn considerable revenue through advertising cooperation.