Stocks in Apple Inc rose by nearly 4% last Monday following the reports that suggested that the brand’s first passenger vehicle electric car could be on the market as soon as 2024. Such a price rise was the opposite of that suffered by Tesla where shares finished down 6.5%. All of which shows that the fledgling electric car market is capable of producing some volatile price adjustments for the biggest names in the tech world.
It wasn’t just shares in Apple that benefited from the Reuters report. There was also positive trading for Velodyne and Luminar who both saw their stock prices rise by over 20%. These are two of the companies that make the lidar sensors that are part of the Apple self-driving cars. The lidar systems are able to help the car self-drive by delivering a 3D image of the surrounding environment.
Apple’s so-called Project Titan has faced a bumpy road in creating self-driving cars. There have been reports that Apple would be stepping back from the manufacture of the cars to focus on developing the self-driving software instead.
But the recent announcements hinted at how Apple’s own battery technology would help the driving range of these electric vehicles. This ‘monocell’ battery technology would be able to limit the size of batteries and also reduce the costs too.
Another year of Apple success
The events of the past year has proven to be difficult for even the most reliable of businesses. But Apple has managed to continue to defy expectations with its stock market performance. The stock of Apple has risen by 127% since late March which is nearly double than of the S&P500.
It’s Apple’s ability to innovate and create demand that sees the company posting such impressive figures. Plus the tech brand recently announced that it would be making nearly 100 million iPhones next year which is a year-on-year increase of 30%.
Apple has also been enjoying strong demand from China which is helping to sustain some of the best growth figures in the market. All of which will help Apple invest in costly projects like self-driving cars.
The growth of the electric car market
The race is truly on for getting a toehold in the hugely promising electric car market. While Tesla may be grabbing all of the headlines, it’s those major tech brands like Apple that could be on course to make electric cars truly mainstream consumer items.
Apple’s plans to release its self-driving car in just over three years will be a warning shot to other tech brands hoping to enter the fledgling market. Alphabet’s Waymo and GM’s Cruise have both been involved in promising prototypes that could finally make fully self-driving cars a reality.
While shares in Tesla suffered a modest drop following the reports of the Apple electric car, it’s important to note that the stock price of Tesla has risen by an impressive 655% since the start of 2020.
