On February 7, the American electric car company Tesla was recently exposed to the news that it will launch a car company version of the App Store.
If this is true, then in the future, the owners of electric cars will be able to download and install apps through the Tesla version of the App Store, similar to our mobile phone users downloading software at Apple or Android App Stores.
In December 2021, Tesla launched the latest version of the in-car interface, when a customizable icon bar was introduced on the touch screen, and since then, rumors about whether Tesla is developing an app store have gradually emerged.
There was even speculation as to whether Tesla CEO Elon Musk would make the announcement on an earnings call at the end of January, but Musk didn't actually mention it.
On February 5, a Tesla stock investor posted a very "ambiguous" message online, he shared a video of Apple founder Steve Jobs introducing the Apple App Store, and then wrote: "There are rumors that soon there will be a similar thing, it has four wheels, the beginning of the letter is T. ”
Obviously, this is a hint that Tesla is likely to launch an in-car app store.
Although Musk himself did not respond to these messages, he did mention that Tesla will not launch a new version of the car in 2022, such as Cyber trucks or sports cars will not be launched in 2022.
Without much update in hardware, will Tesla have more planning in software?
Musk said on February 1 this year: "Whether in the automotive industry or in the manufacturing industry, Tesla is both a software company and a hardware company. This is not widely understood. ”
Zachary Kirkhorn, CFO of Tesla, also said: "With the rapid development of autonomous driving, software-based profits will eventually become a powerful supplement to the profits from hardware sales. I think the software business is the real part to watch. ”
If Tesla can launch an app store in the future, it will add another channel for them to generate revenue for software. Tesla's electric car series led the way in the concept of "software on wheels."
Musk has also previously analyzed that once the self-driving function matures and lands, the driver or passenger may look for some entertainment and work functions in the car's system. This need is clear.
At present, some car companies have built-in Android car app store or Apple's Carplay, through these two systems to download or access specific car applications, but Tesla has long ruled out the possibility of integrating these two systems into its own electric car, so Tesla is likely to have been planning to develop its own app store.