Gene Munster, an analyst at Loop Ventures, says Apple has to make a big move after canceling the Apple Car, and acquiring Rivian could be the answer.
Munster said this after the Apple Car project was apparently canceled. CNBC He was surprised by the move. “Just because Apple is working on something doesn’t mean it will see the light of day,” he said, but for Apple to continue to grow, there must be something bigger to replace it. He insisted that it would be necessary.
“Apple is a tech company, and tech companies by definition need to grow. And that’s the $400 billion problem they have,” he said.
“This is their revenue this year, and they haven’t grown revenue for the last six quarters to grow revenue,” he continued. “To grow your business, you need to enter some big markets.”
“The Vision Pro had potential, but it was more of a shining opportunity related to cars,” Munster said. ”[If Apple made a car then] If they captured 10% of the car market, sales would increase by 60%. ”
Questioner CNBC Host Brian Sullivan asked whether Apple might buy an existing EV maker instead, and Munster said acquiring Rivian is “doable.”
“And I think it’s consistent. I think Apple can do this and it allows them to reach a larger market,” he said. “I don’t want to predict that they’ll end up doing something like this because I’m disappointed in what has happened.”
“But I think Apple needs to enter some new markets. They need to do something big, and potentially Rivian could be just the answer,” he continued. .
Separately, DJ Novotny, an Apple executive credited with helping launch the Apple Car project, moved to Rivian in January 2024.
As for Apple’s growth potential, Gene Munster and his company Loop Ventures have repeatedly predicted that Apple’s market cap will soon reach $3 trillion in 2019, 2020, and 2021. Munster also predicted that the Apple Vision Pro glasses, which were thought to be called Apple at the time, would be released in 2021.
In this CNBC Munster also commented in the interview that “predictions about Apple TV being discontinued in 2017 were famously wrong.”
