As many probably know by now, Apple is working on developing technology for self-driving cars. It was initially rumored that Apple might actually make the cars themselves, but recent reports have suggested that the company is more interested in the tech behind it than building the actual cars.However it seems like those plans could be scrapped, at least according to analysts KC Rajkumar and Jahanara Nissar with Lynx Equity Strategies (via Cult of Mac) who suggests that due to slowdown in iPhone sales, Apple might have less money to spend and devote to other projects, like its self-driving cars.
The analysts write, “A little over a month ago in Dec, we wrote about limited opex [operating expenditure] cuts in some non-core programs such as the autonomous driving program. Our latest checks, solidified after discussions at CES, leads us to believe that perhaps the entire program may be on the chopping block.”
It is true that Apple’s self-driving car project feels a bit like a moonshot kind of project, since it has yet to be commercialized, but are things at Apple so bad that they might have to shut down the program? It does feel a bit exaggerated so it’s probably best to take this with a grain of salt for now.
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