- EV fantasy Project Titan ditched after more than a decade of rumour
- Investors have been critical over Apple’s slow AI embrace
- Could this be a trigger for share price performance revival?
An Apple (AAPL:NASDAQ) electric car always sounded terribly exciting, capturing the imagination of futurists, but rationality seems to have finally dawned at Cupertino. You can argue that Apple is a device maker, and an EV is simply a large, expensive device, but smartphones they are not and there was always enormous risk and cost associated with Project Titan.
Thankfully, for more sensible investors, CEO Tim Cook has finally put that fantasy to bed and Morgan Stanley analysts are not alone in their relief.
BOLSTERED AI TEAM
Rumour has it that many of the near 2,000 Project Titan staff will now be shifted to Apple’s artificial intelligence projects space, an area arguably under-invested so far. AI sounds much more like Apple turf, led by executive John Giannandrea.
The move, if true, will allow Apple to re-purpose assets and talent towards more important initiatives like Generative AI, Morgan Stanley says. For investors, it would also demonstrate far more sensible capital discipline than chasing fancy moonshots.
Apple shares have spent more than six months drifting sideways, allowing Microsoft (MSFT:NASDAQ) to supersede it as the world’s most valuable company. Perhaps drawing a line under Project Titan and putting a bit more oomph behind AI will trigger a turn in the stock’s performance.
