Wizkid Elon Musk is not concerned that Apple could be a potential rival in the electric car industry. He says that the Cupertino-based tech giant hires employees that were ultimately fired by Tesla.
Elon Musk told the Handelsblatt, a German publication, that Apple has only poached engineers that didn’t make it at Tesla. He continues to add that they were clearly not important to the company.
Elon Musk says that they have a running joke regarding fired engineers that join the Cupertino-based company – he dubs Apple the Tesla Graveyard. Individuals that don’t make it at Tesla, ultimately go to work for Apple.
Considering this, nobody at Tesla is worried because Apple is working on their electric car program titled Project Titan.
Elon Musk isn’t the only one foretelling Apple’s demise if the company decides to sink money into its automotive ambitions. Bob Lutz has warned Apple that their new project may end up being a giant money pit.
The Tesla founder respects that Apple is trying to actually build something significant, but he adds that cars are way more complex than your average smartwatch or phone. He continues to explain that the giant tech company will never be able to surpass his own success, nor reproduce it. Yet, he failed to argument why.
Success is a somewhat of a relative term to Elon Musk, considering that Tesla is expected to turn a profit from 2020 upwards.
It’s not news that Apple and Tesla are battling over engineers. Regardless of how much Elon Musk wants to say that those who end up in Apple are Tesla rejects. However, Tesla is indeed getting the big end of the stick – in May, they announced an attrition rate of five to one.
Apple is reportedly enticing ex-Tesla employees to jump ship by offering a 60 percent salary raise and a staggering $250.000 signing bonus.
In the past couple of months Apple has been pushing aggressively on their Project Titan front. Reports earlier this year claim that almost 1.000 employees have been assigned on their electric car project. But despite how many individuals have been hired by Apple, nothing else has surfaced. We don’t expect anything to leak, because Apple keeps a contractually tight lid.
A few weeks ago reports have showcased that Apple is secretly undergoing car operations out of a hidden dedicated facility in San Jose.
Elon Musk is a respected entrepreneur, and a brilliant mind, but he seems to be putting on his poker face with these statements. We aren’t sure whether Apple’s electric car will be a hit or a not, but considering that Elon Musk is discussing Project Titan reassures us that Apple is indeed working on one.
