Might be easier to build a digital camera then a film camera. But where is Polaroid now? Kodak also did not fare well in the transition to digital.
It is certainly easier to run an online marketplace then a gazillion stores you have to restock everyday, right? Yet, Walmart has a hard time in the ecommerce landgrap.
The idea that Kodak somehow ignored digital is a weird silicon valley fairy tale. Kodak shipped a 6 megapixel digital camera in 1995, years before anyone even came close (arguably, the Nikon D1X was the first comparable competitor, and it hit the market in 2001). What killed Kodak was not resting on their laurels, it was actually overspending on R&D that went nowhere, like their disastrous entrance into the pharmaceuticals market.
I think with Canon it is similar - I can't find a long term chart right now though.
"Not surprising considering that the vast majority of people just use robo taxis now. The ICE manufacturers did just fine in the transition to EVs. It was the transition to self-driving they lost out in."
For those who don't know, they developed [one of?] the first digital camera very early on but IIRC they didn't want to cannibalise their market dominant position (why compete against yourself?!) so instead rested on their laurels and ultimately lost to digital.
That doesn’t automatically mean that legacy auto can build EVs better and more profitable than Tesla can. In fact the switching costs will be quite high and trying to do both at the same time may be a boat anchor on many of the legacy companies.
The legacy companies that are mostly run by the finance types are the most in trouble. This transition will require a significant pivot back to engineering focus from the top down.
Oh so they're waiting before prices fall so they can be caught "unprepared" and be eaten by Tesla or cry for another bailout from the government?
"Profits are not there yet" is like saying a wall is not there yet when driving directly towards it.
And I'm glad not all manufacturers subscribe to that naive view