▲Professor Kim Pil-soo of the Department of Future Automotive Engineering at Daelim University


"Is Apple Car development abandoned? Or postponed?"

Samsung's AI phone debuts, autonomous driving technology limits, and Apple Car development halt are key factors.
Hybrid and cost-effective electric vehicle trends are expected to resurface after competitiveness is improved.

Apple has given up on producing the Apple Car after 10 years.

What does giving up on Apple Car mean? And is it really giving up? Or is it acting?

The Apple Car is not just a simple electric vehicle, but the starting point of a new era.

Apple is the company that pioneered the smartphone, which has revolutionized the global market as the most innovative invention since the dawn of mankind.

Today, smartphones are the central point that controls everything, including artificial intelligence and infotainment, and are the starting point of change.

In this situation, Apple Car also means that the market's focus will shift from the current smartphone market to future mobility.

As the point of change is moving towards mobility, the Apple Car can be said to be the beginning of a new chapter in the 130-year history of automobiles.

The advent of the Apple Car also brings a different approach to manufacturing electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles have about 50-60% the number of parts compared to internal combustion engine vehicles, and as core components such as batteries and motors start from a dedicated electric vehicle platform, innovation in manufacturing methods is expected as modular manufacturing becomes more common.

The emergence of the Apple Car means the emergence of a so-called "mobility foundry" that produces the number of cars needed by subcontractors.

In other words, just as a foundry refers to semiconductor consignment manufacturing, a 'mobility foundry' refers to a form of manufacturing that mass-produces desired models such as electric vehicles.

Therefore, Apple Car refers to a manufacturing method similar to that of Foxconn, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer of smartphones.

As this type of manufacturing method becomes more widespread in the future, cars with a thousand faces could be created by changing the covers and algorithms.

The discontinuation of Apple Car has significant implications and the reasons are many. It is judged by the eggplant.

There have been various instances of suspension and development reduction on several occasions, but this time it is approaching with the meaning of complete suspension.

However, given that we have secured relevant mobility-related data over the past 10 years and have also prepared key data related to the Apple Car, we believe that at least a minimal system will be left behind.

In other words, it seems that it could appear at any time, taking into account the conditions and maturity that can improve the current problems.

So what are the reasons for the abandonment or delay of the Apple Car?

Of course, this appears to be because electric vehicle sales have been sluggish in the domestic and global markets since the latter half of last year, and it will take time for electric vehicles to find their place as hybrid vehicles and other vehicles continue to gain strong prominence over the next 3-4 years.

This is because Apple Car's position has been reduced as its shortcomings in market leadership and other areas have grown.

Above all, the most crucial reason for this withdrawal is the significant limitations of autonomous driving technology.

Apple Car is a product that aims to be a 'phone on wheels' by attaching wheels to a phone, and its core technology must be Level 4 autonomous driving technology.

Level 4 is the starting point for truly autonomous vehicles, which can safely and quickly reach their destination, with human intervention only in emergencies.

However, it was not easy to even reach level 3, let alone level 4, as the return on investment was not as expected.

In fact, looking at recent trends in the autonomous driving industry, an increasing number of global manufacturers and related companies are reducing or abandoning autonomous driving technology development.

Here, with the appearance of AI phones in the Samsung Galaxy series, a competitor to smartphones, full-fledged generative artificial intelligence has begun. As its importance has increased, it appears that the approximately 2,000 people who were dedicated to Apple Car will be invested in generative artificial intelligence.

Ultimately, giving up on Apple Car means that it will be difficult to see immediate results and that it will be delayed until tomorrow.

However, what is certain is that there is a very high possibility that it will re-emerge at any time depending on the maturity of the market and the direction of technological development.

I would rather put my energy into acting than give up.

When the 'wheeled phone' appears, it will be the center of future business that will suck everything up.

Recently, as the cost-effectiveness of electric vehicles is still lower than that of hybrid vehicles, the emergence of cheap electric vehicles for 'half-price electric vehicles' is in full swing.

As this trend grows, it is expected that competitiveness will increase and technological advancements will also increase over the next three to four years.

Apple Car will be at the center of this and will be a significant catalyst for its resurgence.