Re:Investors conclude that Tesla is a carmaker, not a tech firm
by JumpCrisscross on Thursday January 05, 2023 @10:18AM
(#34260782)
> not sure outsourcing manufacturing and focusing on design works in auto industry
Engines were monuments of engineering. A new engine design could dig a decades-long moat around a company. This combination of proprietary zeal and complexity dictated the market structure.
EVs are different. They’re simpler. And their differentiation is on soft points like style and software. (The tech driver is the battery, but nobody is vertically integrated to a differentiated extent anymore.) This, theoretically, permits a small(er) design team to arrange supply chains and command factories from afar. It also permits mix-and-match manufacturing, with specialisation and competition at the component level.
Engines were monuments of engineering. A new engine design could dig a decades-long moat around a company. This combination of proprietary zeal and complexity dictated the market structure.
EVs are different. They’re simpler. And their differentiation is on soft points like style and software. (The tech driver is the battery, but nobody is vertically integrated to a differentiated extent anymore.) This, theoretically, permits a small(er) design team to arrange supply chains and command factories from afar. It also permits mix-and-match manufacturing, with specialisation and competition at the component level.