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Tim Cook says it’ll be ‘Christmas Eve for a while’ when asked about Apple Car during shareholders meeting

Tim Cook and company lead Apple’s annual shareholders meeting of 2016 this morning, and as usual there were some interesting questions and answers between those in attendance. Like last year, Apple’s rumored electric vehicle project came up, only the Apple CEO didn’t automatically defer to CarPlay this go around. Diversity and Apple’s ongoing battle with the FBI over encryption were also topics of discussion at the Cupertino meeting at Apple HQ.

It’s an open secret that Apple has been working on developing an electric car for quite some time now — even Tesla’s Elon Musk has framed the project as such — but Cook once again tried to downplay expectations at least on timing when asked about the Apple Car by a shareholder today (via Business Insider):

Do you remember when you were a kid, and Christmas Eve it was so exciting, you weren’t sure what was going to be downstairs? Well, it’s going to be Christmas Eve for a while.

Whether or not Cook intended to characterize the project this way, calling the current development period ‘Christmas Eve’ doesn’t exactly deny that the Apple Car is coming eventually if the EV is ‘Christmas Day’ in this metaphor.

When asked earlier this week about the teams of people being hired to work on the car project, Cook explained generically that Apple doesn’t need to spend large amounts of money to “explore” an area, just people, further suggesting that the EV was in development stages and not near completion. Note that many of those exploratory teams were assembled through a poaching war between Apple and Tesla.

Compare Cook’s responses today, though, to his answers a year ago when shareholders asked about the Apple Car project and suggested that Apple should buy Tesla. Cook said at the time that modern cars make you “step in a time capsule and go back 20 years” and that Apple is very focused on CarPlay, adding that Apple had no relationship with Tesla which they believe should use CarPlay.

Aside from the Apple Car talk, today’s shareholders meeting included the usual business as well.

Apple reelected all eight members of the board: Art Levinson, James Bell, Tim Cook, Al Gore, Bob Iger, Andrea Jung, Ronald Sugar, and Susan Wagner.

After highlighting the past fiscal year’s product and financial achievements, Cook disclosed that the company had spent $8.5 billion in research & development and made 19 company acquisitions during that time, USA Today reports.

We also learned that Apple’s global employee count has reached 116,000, as Cook disclosed during the meeting.

Reverend Jesse Jackson, who has a long relationship with Apple, was also in attendance and had high praise for Tim Cook and the company’s position on encryption and the FBI battle. Jackson called Cook “a man of integrity and character” while thanking him for standing up to the Department of Justice on behalf of customers.

“I recall the FBI wire-tapping of Dr. King and the Civil Rights and Black movements and organizations. We cannot go down this path again.”

Jackson also spoke about the necessity of inclusion during the meeting, adding that Apple has made inroads. Jackson and Cook have met numerous times over the years to discuss fair treatment of workers and diversity.

Continuing his message on strong encryption, Cook called himself “a staunch advocate” for customer “privacy and personal safety” during the meeting as well.

Cindy Cohn, a representative of the EFF, applauded Apple’s position (via Mercury News):

“It’s wrong for the government to force a company or a coder” to write code that weakens security, she said. The issue is about “our safety and government overreach.”

And pointing toward the future, Cook told shareholders that some employees should be able to move to the new Apple campus around January 2017, noting that Steve Jobs had dedicated himself to the project during his final years. Fair to say the next annual shareholders meeting could possibly take place at the new expanded campus.

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Comments

  1. Jake Becker - 8 years ago

    Jesse Jackson said something worth hearing?

  2. Doug Aalseth - 8 years ago

    Oh he makes some good points, if you don’t let him go on too long. I still remember his “America, Stay Outta the Bushes” speech during the 2000 Democratic Convention. The single worst political speech ever made. But he can bring attention to an issue. He’s good in small doses.

  3. taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

    The car comments are nothing really new from his comments earlier in the week. With BMW announcing more focus Lat week on its lectern vehicles Apple should partner with an electric MINI. The new MINI Clubman design ethos fits well with Apple and would be a great platform for an Apple Electric vehicle.

    With Apple shifting the management of the Car team and being discouraged they won’t meet the initial time schedules it is not surprising to see Tim Dow play their car ambitions twice this week. Apples release schedule was ridiculously fast phased unless it sources the car from a known automaker. It takes a established car maker usually 6 years of design and tooling to release a model, so Appe doing this from scratch in a short time was always a big stretch.

    • I don’t see how the Mini is very Apple-ish. It is too retro, and the interior way too cluttered. I know, Volkswagen is not very popular right now (and for good reason), but I think the car that shares Apples design philosophy most is the VW Golf. It’s the iPod of cars. Simple basic forms, quality materials, more expensive than competitors but still affordable for a lot of people.

  4. Jimmy Hauser - 8 years ago

    When it comes to modern cars, I will happily “step back 20 years”. Which is to say, my vehicle needs to use tried and tested technology that is reliable.

    If my car worked like my iphone, I would have to pull over every 10 miles to change settings or reboot it. And then trade it in every 2 years because the fuel range has been cut in half.

  5. rodgerrafter - 8 years ago

    I was at the meeting. His Christmas Eve analogy and the way he smiled while saying it surprised me in that he seemed to clearly saying Apple would eventually produce an automobile (eventually). Prior to today he’s been much more cautious about answering questions about Apple’s car prospects.

    Contrary to what was written in the above article, Tim Cook said the next shareholder meeting probably WOULD NOT be held at the new site becaus technical issues aren’t likely to be worked out in time. This was in response to complaints about Apple needing to use overflow rooms for shareholders who couldn’t fit into the main town hall.

    • twelve01 - 8 years ago

      The long Christmas Eve analogy was amusing. I also appreciated his joke about his Super 50 photo.

      • PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

        I’d love to read the story on that Super 50 reference.

  6. macnificentseven48 - 8 years ago

    Thanks, Tim. Alphabet says their car will be ready for sale next year. One more good reason to dump Apple and buy Alphabet. Apple may have a ton of money at its disposal but that surely isn’t helping them get anything done. They’ll be sure to be the last one to the party.

    • twelve01 - 8 years ago

      Yeah, yeah. Alphabet always always seem to have an abundance products in the pipeline that will supposedly launch them into greater and greater profits. They’ve been at for some time and yet its still search and advertising that accounts for all their money. I’ll believe it when I see it.

      • PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

        Alphabet. The See What Sticks Company™.

  7. PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

    What? Andrea Jung got reelected? She spooks me out!

  8. Troy Geier (@tageier) - 8 years ago

    What car is that in the photo? A Ferrari?

  9. El_nino_tech11 - 8 years ago

    I think it could mean they r coming out with new products and we won’t know what to expect.

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.