Investor Urges Tesla To Partner With Apple - Does That Make Sense?

Apple might be the most valuable company in the world but they are horrible. Their technology is not innovative and they just overcharge the small % of customers they do have. I think Tesla shouldn't look to Apple and I think they will be fine without Apple. If they want to merge with an outside company they should look at one of the automotive companies.
Please do your research on market share vs competition before saying something crazy.

The Saudi Utility and Car Company (SUCC), is looking for this kind of forward thinking.

I don't own any Apple products, but do respect them as a company and follow them pretty closely. Market share is not that relevant when you are the largest and most profitable company in the world. A minuscule number of companies in the Fortune 100 have margins in the 40% range. They're doing something right.

They could certainly help Tesla with manufacturing and I'm sure there are some cross-sell opportunities, but the cultures are too different for it to make sense.

Sure - when Tesla goes Belly UP - Apple could move in and use their facilities to make an I-car. Cheaper than starting from scratch!

Although I am not a Tesla fan - there are LOTS of reasons why a manufacturer might want to partner with Tesla

It does have significant knowledge regarding EV drivetrains - including a number of patents. I does also have significant knowledge of "autonomous" software.Both of these would take years off a development program of an EV alone. Tesla does have EV platforms upon which other vehicles could be produced as well - noting that they are not cobbled up conversions of ICE vehicle platforms.

Lastly - Tesla does have a large assembly plant - with reasonably current manufacturing equipment - that would take years to build and configure for most other manufacturers.

IN a Tesla FIRE SALE - all of this could be obtained for a pittance compared to what it would cost to develop it from scratch.

for one... to bring stability to the leadership of Tesla, and perhaps bring knowledge and expertise that relate to actual cars and not fart dreams.

I could see Apple buying Tesla, but why would Apple want to "partner" with them? That would be business suicide for Apple.

The only real value of Tesla is the brand name but not the products.

as much as i dislike Musk and his flatulent brain, he has pushed the E-car agenda to the forefront. the future is here, the tech is reliable. Even if Tesla is not around in a few years, a current manufacturer, lets say... geely, could gain massive grounds in both tech and footprint in US.

That's total BS, the most valuable part of Tesla is the fact that they have products that consumers strongly desire. Do you know how rare it is to have a product that people love? The highest customer satisfaction rating of any car is something of incredible value. The question is whether that type of product can be produced profitably, but the value is obvious.

Tesla has products that consumers pay too much for and then those consumers discover they are shoddy, but they can't bear to look foolish, so they act like Tesla is the holy grail. #EmperorsNewClothes.

The concept of Tesla is brilliant, but the actuality of the cars isn't.

Based on current valuation - coming up with $70 billion to buy Tesla would not be money well spent. From a strictly monetary consideration - Tesla will eventually have to drop substantially in price for a purchase. A merger would only dilute Apple stock TOO much to be worth the trouble. The fact is - this is not going to happen at this Tesla stock price

Tesla would love to get its hands on Apple's huge cash pile but why Apple would want them is beyond me. The auto business eats cash like few others and the big boys (VW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Ford, etc) who have been developing, making, marketing, distributing, selling and servicing cars for a hundred years are on the verge of introducing a slew of desirable EV cars to compete heads up with Tesla. Apple doesn't need Tesla...its upside, profit potential, margins and return on capital are too low to be of interest to Apple. Apple wants to sell the broad automotive market software like Apple Play, low cost high margin high returns.

Tesla would suck Apple dry pretty much like how Marchionne sucked dry the profits of the American arm of FCA to fund the Italian mediocrity.

Tesla would love to get its hands on Apple's huge cash pile but why Apple would want them is beyond me. The auto business eats cash like few others and the big boys (VW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Ford, etc) who have been developing, making, marketing, distributing, selling and servicing cars for a hundred years are on the verge of introducing a slew of desirable EV cars to compete heads up with Tesla. Apple doesn't need Tesla...its upside, profit potential, margins and return on capital are too low to be of interest to Apple. Apple wants to sell the broad automotive market software like Apple Play, low cost high margin high returns.

Apple needs a foothold into autonomous driving, where it can capture the driver's attention with their products. As to why... Apple is hitting a cap on what they can achieve in their current markets without having to reduce gross margins. In order to continue growing, they need to venture into other markets. That is why they are going to launch a Netflix competitor later this year and why they spent a massive amount of cash on a failed EV concept, "Project Titan."

Sorry, double clicked!

Yes and no. If you look long term, Tesla has a lot of good ideas for new products and a solid foothold in the luxury BEV car business. But it needs money, lots of money, billions of dollars both now and for the next 5-10 years. Apple has a huge war chest and seemingly nothing of interest to spend it on and it only gets bigger by the day. Even investing $25B in Tesla isn't going to hurt Apple's financial position with the way it generates cash. Is there risk, yes. Could Tesla be a great platform for future Apple car tech? Yes. Is there something better to do with Apple's money? Likely yes again. But changing the world is a lot more fun than earned interest on a T-Bill. It will be interesting to see how this all ends up.

Having a company with an A+ reputation (Apple) merge with a company with a D- reputation (Tesla) does not make any sense for Apple.

Maybe the "investor" is encouraging Tesla to mirror Apple's manufacturing practices. Design in-house, outsource production.