[kscherer]

I don't know. I guess I have a few things to say.

Pros:

- Apple gains a manufacturing partner with at least some experience;
- Tesla is a respected brand;
- Apple gains access to the Gigafactory, which has the [presumed] capability to manufacture all the batteries they could ever want;
- The Gigafactory may also be able to supply batteries for Apple's other product line, so there is an advantage there;
- Apple would immediately have access to hundreds of thousands of new, highly devoted customers who are willing to spend money on quality products

Cons:

- Elon Musk;
- Quality issues need to be resolved;
- Linux/Ubuntu-based OS would need extensive rebuild;
- Manufacturing capacity needs to be resolved;
- Serious culture clashes (especially regarding Musk and senior managers);
- Branding—Do they change the name to Apple Car? I doubt it (see Beats);
- The Gigafactory is at least partly owned by Panasonic (the actual battery supplier), so there is complication in that;
- Tesla would cost Apple roughly $50billion, with no profitable future in sight; Apple can develop its own car for significantly less than this

—

Honestly, I don't think it makes sense. When Apple bought Beats for $3billion, at least Beats was a profitable company under solid, mature leadership. Tesla is struggling to find money and Musk is a loose canon, and that combination would cost Apple $50billion+, depending on the market at time of purchase. Also, it would likely bring Apple into direct competition with their CarPlay partners, and I can see every manufacturer dumping them practically overnight, although I suppose an argument could be made that other car makers would not want to anger their iPhone-owning customers.

Also, I wonder how the SEC would feel about such an acquisition, since Apple has so many tentacles into other auto brand's stereos? Not a lawyer, so not sure about that, but a hair does stand up on the back of my neck.

Could Apple solve the manufacturing and supply issues? Perhaps, but I doubt if they could do it inside of five years. Too many things already in place that would need to be changed/eliminated.

I think it's a bad idea.

Edit: And I think Apple/Elon Musk would bang heads about way too many things, leading to Musk's departure. Good or bad? Probably both. Nutball that he is, he's created or been part of the creation of several very popular and [mostly] successful companies. Like him or not, without crazy people like that companies like SpaceX and Tesla do not come to life. Too much risk under too much scrutiny, especially when lives are at stake.