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> Cars will be a service...and that clashes with what Apple stands for

Someone should get a memo over to the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iTunes, iCloud and other services teams. They only brought in like $7 billion of revenues last quarter [1].

[1] https://www.macrumors.com/2017/05/02/app-store-revenue-up-40...

But how much of a premium would an Apple car be able to command in this scenario?

All those services only really make money due to ecosystem lock in.

Unless you expect some iOS-centric reason to order an Apple car with a higher price, I can't imagine why this would be good for Apple.

Apple is a luxury brand. They would likely be making a luxury car. People would buy it, among other things, for trendiness, prestige and social standing.

>Apple is a luxury brand

is it? Doesn't look that way when you think about the iPhone and iPad market shares.

They're around 1/3 to 2/5 of smartphones in the United States [1] and about 1/5 worldwide [2]. (About 2/5 of people, worldwide, own a smartphone [3].) Meanwhile, Apple captures something like 90% of global smartphone profits [4]. High-end margin leaders sell luxury products.

[1] http://fortune.com/2017/01/18/apple-iphone-market-share-2/

[2] https://www.strategyanalytics.com/strategy-analytics/blogs/d...

[3] http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/02/22/smartphone-ownership-rat...

[4] http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/23/apple-captures-record-91-perc...

Also, an iPhone is cheaper on a yearly basis than a dog.

https://xkcd.com/980/

I'm not sure you actually read the article you linked. The focus is on delayed purchasing of cars, not an outright lack of ownership. There's no way I'll ever be using a rental service when I have to constantly worry about having a stroller, diaper bag, car seats, and so much more. I don't see the issue of family mobility solved anywhere in the horizon by "cars as a service."

The article says it may be delayed but it also says this.

> Some critics are skeptical that millennials will ever catch up. Prolonging car-buying, they say, means fewer cars purchased during one’s lifetime, a problem for the auto industry.

and

> millennials are looking for cars from manufacturers that integrate seamlessly with their smartphones and sync with other technology

Which actually is in line with what Apple is doing. Either way, I agree it's not a stupid move.

Prolonging car-buying, they say, means fewer cars purchased during one’s lifetime, a problem for the auto industry.

I bought my first car when I was 36. Compared to friends who got their first car when they where 18, the main difference is that I've bought 1 fairly nice new car in my life and they've bought 1 fairly nice new car and 5 pieces of crap. By the time we're both 65 we'll probably have spent about the same total amount of money buying cars in our lifetime.

Parents are a pretty large market, I could imagine being able to call a car with car seats and other fixed items.

I'm also expecting costs to come way down when you no longer need a driver, and people are willing to trade some inconvenience for significantly reduced costs.

The cost of keeping on demand toddler haulers, who each have their own configuration and create huge messes, would be very labor intensive.

The market for self driving cars will be enormous, regardless of whether individuals own them or use them as a service. It's a field they would like to disrupt, and it's massive. What clashes with Apple, exactly?

I'm not the person you're responding to, but my impression of Apple is that pride-in-ownership is a large factor in their success. They have tended to eschew function and utility in favour of form and integrity.

Transport-as-a-service will commoditise the industry. Apple may change, of course. But if they follow their usual pattern, I agree with your parent that lack of owner-pride could challenge Apple's unique selling proposition.

Still, as you said, the market is huge. Even if I'm right, Apple can sell to owners, who'd become proud-though-minority road users.

Transport-as-a-service with your own car. I guess if you end up spending more time in your car, because why not if it drives itself, you my as well be in a nice car which you own. Judging by the look of "shared stuff" currently shared cars will be made from the ugliest plastic imaginable.

That would require major change in the psychology of car drivers not sure that's going to be happening any time soon.

Hint look at how Horse drawn Army's handled horses (read small warsthe USMC manual) individual troopers look after their own horse for a reason.

That article makes no argument that younger people are less likely to (eventually) buy a car. 27 year old me had no plans of ever getting a license and saw no point in owning a car. 10 years later and what do you know, I have a drivers license and own a car.

What does Apple stand for and why does it clash with a speculative future outlined here?

"What Apple stands for"! Ha. I had to stop and have a good laugh just then. Thanks for my first chuckle of the day!

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