Skip to main content

Apple CEO says ‘massive change’ is coming to auto industry

Apple CEO Tim Cook has given the latest sign that the iPhone maker is planning an assault on the car industry, saying there is a ‘massive change’ in the market, according to the Telegraph. Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's WSJDLive conference this week, Cook talked of the growing importance of software in the car of the future, the rise of autonomous vehicles and the shift from an internal combustion engine to electrification. "It would seem like there will be massive change in that industry, mass
October 21, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
493 Apple CEO Tim Cook has given the latest sign that the iPhone maker is planning an assault on the car industry, saying there is a ‘massive change’ in the market, according to the Telegraph.

Speaking at the Wall Street Journal's WSJDLive conference this week, Cook talked of the growing importance of software in the car of the future, the rise of autonomous vehicles and the shift from an internal combustion engine to electrification.

"It would seem like there will be massive change in that industry, massive change," he said. "You may not agree with that. That's what I think.

"When I look at the automobile, what I see is that software becomes an increasingly important part of the car of the future. You see that autonomous driving becomes much more important."

He declined to respond to published reports that Apple is developing an electric car that might hit the road as soon as 2019. Cook said that, in the short term, Apple is working to bring the ‘iPhone experience’ to the vehicle through CarPlay, its in-dash system that creates a way for users to access their iTunes music collections or get driving directions from its mapping software without touching their phones.

"We’ll see what we do in the future," he said. "I do think that the industry is at an inflection point for massive change."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • ITSA’s Shailen Bhatt looks to the future
    March 6, 2018
    The new boss of ITS America is fizzing with ideas. Shailen Bhatt talks to Adam Hill about the need to rebrand the ITS industry, how technology can leverage tax dollars – and where the Star Wars universe fits in to his philosophy. Shailen Bhatt has a big job on his hands. The CEO and president of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America is the second to hold the post in two years following the resignation last July of his predecessor Regina Hopper. It has not been the easiest time for the
  • Global toll revenues $8.5bn while technology ‘battles’ continue
    April 9, 2014
    ABI Research’s Dominique Bonte talks to Jason Barnes about trends in tolling and how a wider appreciation of technology options is sorely needed. Global Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) solution revenues will grow to $8.5bn by 2018, with ETC becoming a main source of funding for both Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and Vehicle-to-X (V2X) cooperative infrastructures, according to a new report from ABI Research (Chart 1). But, says the report’s author, ABI Research vice president and practice director Dom
  • Reports says Apple iOS too late and too limited
    July 24, 2013
    According to Frost and Sullivan, Apple’s new iOS 7 for the automotive industry is too late and too limited for the automotive market. The device has notable changes to the interface and improved voice capabilities of personal assistant SIRI. Auto OEMs however, with their respective partners have moved many a mile without the need for Apple’s involvement. The announcement may be seen as a phased approach after last year’s announcement of SIRI EyesFree by Apple at WWDC. “If compared to other players, such as
  • In-vehicle systems as enforcement enablers?
    January 30, 2012
    From an enforcement perspective at least, Toyota's recent recalls over problems with accelerator pedal assemblies had a positive outcome in that for the first time a major motor manufacturer outside of the US acknowledged publicly what many have known or suspected for quite a while: that the capability exists within certain car companies to extract data from a vehicle onboard unit which can be used to help ascertain, if not prove outright, just what was happening in the vital seconds up to an accident or cr