Apple might be having second thoughts on what to do with its self-driving vehicles after many other tech companies started getting interested in the same venture.
Countless employees have been laid off with some aspects of the vehicles torn apart in Apple’s latest move which has notified of trouble brewing.
Even after adding project Titan in the course of last two years, Apple’s self-driven cars are yet to make further headway. The company had to hire Bob Mansfield who is seen as the company’s veteran to take over the project.
Google and Alphabet have shown more than growing interest in self-driven cars by testing their car on the roads with a major interest in developing its systems and software for the technology to stand out. The Tesla Company has come under the microscope after its self-driving car was involved in an accident that was fatal.
For Uber, their cars will pick up passengers from next week in Pittsburgh in one of its self-driven cars. At the rate of $700 million for Otto start-up, Uber gained a position with high ranking minds when it comes to autonomous and robotics technology.
In the coming five years, we expect to see other automobile manufacturers like General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler to join the league.
Apple managed to stand out from the rest due to their renowned state of secrecy. They never owned up to manufacturing a car if not for the revelation made by Apple’s Chief Executive, Timothy Cook, at an annual meeting of shareholders where he gave the hint of a car underway. The laid off workers also corroborated this hint.
For electric cars, what they make use of mostly are sensors, software and batteries and not necessarily on a combustion engine. These kinds of self-driven cars can change the face of transportation and ownership of vehicles.
Apple increased its quest for building electric cars in the last two years. The company embarked on it and made a major milestone in better technology and getting the services of the best hands in the auto industry.
So, in as little as 18 months, over 1000 employees were garnered from all divisions to join in this venture. The project was not without its problems with noticed inability to tell what the problem really is.
The problem started when Apple’s long-time employee, Steven Zadesky left the company with speculations as to why he left. Mr. Mansfield joined the team and worked with late Steve Jobs, but had to leave after a while sometime in 2013.
With the sale of iPhone on the low, Calif is expected to help out in this new venture of Apple to help the company stay on its feet.
There has been some milestone made by Apple in the space. There have a good number of autonomous cars that are being test-run in some secluded locations. However, there is no timeframe in view when the cars will be made available for consumer use.
