According to recent rumours, Musk intends to create a Tesla phone with unique features. Considering where Tesla is headed, it makes sense to have the phone, particularly as a defence against Apple’s rumoured electric car. It is speculated that the rumoured phone will include Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Series mobile processor, colours that match Tesla car colours, functionality that makes it an outstanding car key for Tesla cars, and (this is the questionable part) connectivity with Starlink. The last possibility is highly doubtful since most smartphones need a large antenna and a powerful radio in order to connect to satellites.
Nevertheless, if they succeeded, it would provide Tesla phone users with an enormous advantage, as they would be able to get relatively high-bandwidth connections years before 5G becomes reality. Finally, smartphones are becoming keys to cars, which means a Tesla phone may have further integration with a Tesla car. The system could include dedicated buttons, for example, to lock, unlock, find the vehicle, and scream for help through the car’s external speakers. When you have the autonomous feature and want your car to pick you up, your phone can also help it locate you. People forget where they parked, so this would be particularly useful.
Possibly, if the vision of Elon Musk is as great as that of Tim Cook, he will make the features configurable so they could be integrated with other cars, and it could be a step closer to getting people to buy Tesla’s cars. Qualcomm helped Apple develop the first iPhone, and they have gotten better since then in terms of building phones that work right out of the box. Tesla’s technology is already among the best on the market, but it would need to add features to its cars, which they can do with Qualcomm’s assistance.
Integrated cars and phones could be a Tesla advantage over Apple. In spite of the fact that Tesla and Apple have not been successful partners, Qualcomm can be successful with everyone and assist Apple in getting started. Because the investment was smaller, it was an easier time for Qualcomm to help Apple get started. The Qualcomm partnership could enable Tesla to close the technology gap with Apple more than effectively. Since Qualcomm works with automatic vehicles and autonomous driving, they have more automobile expertise than Apple.
In addition, regulations surrounding the construction of a car are far more complicated than those surrounding the construction of a phone. Accordingly, Tesla’s lead in the market with Qualcomm is likely to be greater than Apple’s with only its most recent model.