Apple will create a new car industry. Here is my visual overview of the rumors, the facts, the naysayers, and -- very possibly -- the design of the iCar. For more on how to make presentations like this, please visit www.napkinacademy.com
6. Applehastoo much money.
I believe that our best creativity
comes from constraint.When we’ve
accumulatedmore than enough of
any resource, two things happen:
1)We get more cautious. (We have
more to lose.)
2)We have a harder time making
decisions. (When we can do
anything, it’s hard to know which
things to do.)
How much is
too much?
18. What’sbehindtherumors?
It sure feels like
there’s something
here…
Reports
emerged this
week… an
electric car…
Apple’s plans
are unclear
and
unconfirmed
… a few
hundred
people to
work…
And now
there is
speculation
that the
company
is working
on a car…
surely be
designed in
the famous
studio where
Ive and his
colleagues
work.
Autos have
become the latest
obsession for
Silicon Valley,
with Apple
assigning about
200 people to
work on an
electric vehicle
technology…
Investors have
long dreamed of
Apple acquiring
Tesla Motors,
given the
disruptive
characteristics
and cultural
similarities
between the
two companies.
21. Appledesigns.
Apple is the greatest
product design and business
design* company in industrial
history.
*This part tends to be forgotten in all our
excitement about the toys, but it is the
real reason Apple continually surprises
the skeptics.
23. Applekicks‘supplychain’.
Nobody is better than
Appleat integrating
every step of the
industrial process, from
beginning to end.
Appledelivers exactly
what it says it is going to
deliver exactly when it
saysit will.
24. Applemarkets.
No company has ever
established the cult-like
connection with
customersthat Apple
has.
Calling what Apple
does “marketing”is
like calling the Pacific
Ocean a ‘big puddle.’
Laaaa!
Laaaa!
25. Applemakesmarkets.
Speaking of oceans,
Appleexcels at
finding blue oceans*
that other
companies – other
industries, actually –
seem to miss.
*Blue Ocean is the
business-speak term for an
untapped new growth
opportunity.
28. Theauto guys seemclueless.
“If there were a rumor
that Mercedes planned
to start building
smartphones, then
Apple would not be
sleepless at night. And
the same applies to me.”
- Dieter Zetsche,
Chairman Daimler AG
*and former CEO Daimler-Chrysler.
(And who just lost his head of North
American R&D to… Apple.)
“We take steel, raw
steel, and turn it
into car. They have
no idea what they're
getting into if they
get into that.”
-Dan Akerson,
former CEO
General Motors
“Absolutely silly.”
- Praveen Narayanan,
automotive research
manager at Frost &
Sullivan
29. Theautoguysareright,butinthewrongway.
Detroit says, “Cars are
about bending metal &
that'shard.”
Sure, but that assumes a
100 year old business
model.
A better way to think
outside that iron box is to
ask a few questions…
Q: What is the Amazon of
taxis?
A: Uber
Q: What is the iTunes of
commuting?
A: Zip car
Don't ask, ‘How heavy is
iron?’ Ask, ‘What is purpose
of a car?’
If the purposeof a car is to
get me from A-to-B with
convenience, comfort and
style, then car ownership is
the business to disrupt.
I suspect that’s the business
Appleis thinking about.
(Yes,asacar-guy,ItotallygetthatIneedto
own.ButIusedtosaythataboutmoviesand
musictoo.)
30. Thisringsa bell.
“There's no
chance that
the iPhone is
going to get
any significant
market share.
No chance.”
- Steve Ballmer,
2007
“It’s a nice
reader, but
there’s nothing
on the iPad I
look at and say,
‘Oh, I wish
Microsoft had
done it.”
- Bill Gates, 2010
31. Here’saword: Tesla.
Okay,it won’t be
profitable until 2020,
but comeon, Detroit –
takea hint!
• A Silicon Valley
start-up.
• No previousauto
manufacturing
experience.
• Breakthrough
technology.
• All electric.
• Beautiful design.
• Peoplewith
moneywant it.
42. Thekeywill be thebusinessmodel.
Those who know technology know
that the products Apple makes aren’t
really the key to their success.
What has been more critical is Apple’s
ability to use their products to redefine
entire businesses.
Whether music and movie licensing
and distribution, the creation of the
app universe, or redefining publishing,
Applemakes most of its money by
making those new markets.
44. I’dexpectthesamethingfromiCar.
When the Detroit CEOs
and experts say, “Cars are
about bending iron and
that’s hard,” they’re right.
But they miss the point.
Apple isn’t interested
in bending iron;
Apple is interested in
distorting reality.
45. 2020visionrequired.
What AirBnb is doing to Marriott.
What will Apple’s iCar do to Detroit, Stuttgart, and Toyota City?
What Uber is doing to Yellow.
What Amazon did to Borders.
What iTunes did to Tower Records.
What Starbucks did to every café in the world.
52. Dan Roam is a car nut, a computer nut, and a design nut.
He also writes picture books for businesspeople.
www.danroam.com
53. BTW, I’d love to show you how to make presentations like this one:
www.napkinacademy.com
54. Sources
• Bloomberg Business, Nov. 25, 2014. “Apple Tops
700 Billion…” by Tim Higgins, Joseph Ciolli, Callie
Bost
• The New Yorker, Feb. 23, 2015. “The Shape of
Things to Come.” by Ian Parker.
• The New Yorker online, Feb. 24, 2015. “Could
Jony Ive Pull off and Apple Car?” by John
Cassidy.
• Business Insider, Aug 4, 2014. “Tim Cook Will
Have to Prove Himself…” by Steve Kovach.
• The Economist, Feb. 21, 2015. “Upsetting the
Apple Car.”
• Marketplace Radio, Feb. 20, 2015. “Will Apple
Put the Pedal to the Metal?” by Nova Safo
• Bloomberg Business, Feb 18, 2015. “Apple
Hairball?...” by Tim Higgins
• Medium.com, Feb. 18, 2015. “Apple will buy
Tesla…” by Jason Calacanis (@jason)