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

  • ITS sector must use less confusing industry terms says Q-Free
    December 23, 2015
    For ITS to gain the recognition it deserves, Q-Free’s Knut Evensen argues that the sector must have a coherent message and avoid confusing the wider community with a bewildering array of terms and acronyms. Any industry or group of people will develop its own lexicon over time. The process is near-inevitable, as individuals’ knowledge bases increase and evolve, and terms for common wisdom are created and become truncated, or even slang. A danger, though, as a relatively small group looks to admit large numb
  • Improved productivity and advanced technology benefits ITS
    December 13, 2012
    John Horsley will hang up his hat as executive director of AASHTO in February 2013. After 14 years at the helm, he will bow out convinced of the current and future benefits of ITS for US transportation. Alot of exciting career opportunities still await young engineers in US transportation, says John Horsley, outgoing executive director of AASHTO – the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials. Horsley will be dedicating more of his time to matters of ITS after he stands down in Februa
  • Slow development of Europe's road user charging
    April 24, 2013
    Delegates convened in Brussels for Europe’s 10th annual Road User Charging Conference in March, when both positive and negative developments came to light for advocates of more widespread introduction of RUC. Jon Masters reports. Goings on across Europe in recent months have again demonstrated how very sensitive road user charging (RUC) is politically. At the 10th annual Road User Charging Conference in Brussels at the beginning of March, a Danish delegation was notable for its absence, but Belgian governme
  • How C/AVs could serve rural communities
    July 23, 2019
    In Ireland, there is low population density and a lot of rain – which can make last-mile journeys a trial. Orla O’Halloran at Arup has some thoughts on how C/AVs could serve rural communities Connected and autonomous vehicles (C/AVs) have the potential to be a vital link for people in rural communities, as part of a wider Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solution. That is the view of Orla O’Halloran, intelligent mobility consultant at Arup. She believes that MaaS needs to be considered in conjunction with ot