Musk Reacts to Apple Car Cancellation with Salute and Smoking Emojis... Has He Worked Hard All This Time?

Apple has completely canceled its electric vehicle development project that it had been pursuing for several years, drawing attention as Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, 'reacted' to the news via X. On the 27th (local time), Musk quoted an X thread reporting Apple's cancellation of its electric vehicle development and posted a saluting emoji along with a cigarette emoji. Although he did not add any further comments, netizens generally interpreted this as him expressing sympathy for Apple's efforts while feeling relieved for himself.

The electric vehicle industry has reportedly been quite wary of the Apple Car project. Bloomberg, reporting on Apple's cancellation of its electric vehicle development, explained, "Apple holds over $61 billion in cash and, with its technological capabilities and brand power, would have been a strong competitor had it entered the electric vehicle market."

Elon Musk, Tesla CEO's X Tweet [Image source = X]

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Recently, the electric vehicle market has faced stagnation and is also confronting intense price competition sparked by Chinese companies such as BYD. If Apple Car had joined this environment, the cutthroat competition might have worsened.

Regarding this, Bloomberg pointed out, "Apple's exit from the electric vehicle market shows how challenging the industry is," adding, "From the majority of consumers' perspective, electric vehicles are still too expensive, and charging stations are too few."

It continued, "Electric vehicle sales have grown 65% over the past three years, but this year, growth is only 9%," forecasting, "The industry must compete for new consumers who make up less than 10%."

There are also claims that Apple's withdrawal from electric vehicles could provide 'spillover benefits' to Tesla. Gartner analyst Ramsey predicted that Tesla could impress investors by leading the challenging electric vehicle market to the extent that Apple gave up.

In 2018, Tesla set up a production line inside a 'large tent,' where 400 workers and the CEO dedicated themselves to vehicle assembly six days a week, experiencing a 'production hell.' [Image source=Ex(X)]

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Meanwhile, Musk has previously commented on potential competitor companies. Regarding an article about another American electric vehicle startup, Rivian, struggling to increase production volume, he advised, "Costs must be drastically reduced, and management must live inside the factory."

In fact, before Tesla got on track, Musk devoted himself to management by practically living inside the factory. According to his biography published last year, during the process of increasing Tesla Model 3 production from 2,000 to 5,000 units per week in 2018, he faced numerous crises and referred to that period as "production hell."

At that time, Musk even pitched a tent inside the California automobile factory and stayed overnight, personally inspecting the production line until dawn and striving to improve efficiency.

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