Will Apple Acquire Rivian? 1 Wall Street Analyst Thinks it Should
Apple has called it quits on its electric vehicle effort, Project Titan. But does that mean the company is done with EVs for good?
Wall Street’s interesting idea
Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management is one of Wall Street’s most respected technology analysts. And while Project Titan appears to have been consigned to the dustbin of tech sector history, Munster just floated an interesting idea.
During a discussion on CNBC Tuesday, Munster put forth the notion that Apple should acquire Rivian. This is interesting for several reasons.
Wall Street’s interesting idea
Gene Munster of Deepwater Asset Management is one of Wall Street’s most respected technology analysts. And while Project Titan appears to have been consigned to the dustbin of tech sector history, Munster just floated an interesting idea.
During a discussion on CNBC Tuesday, Munster put forth the notion that Apple should acquire Rivian. This is interesting for several reasons.
First, Rivian has demonstrated some success in the highly competitive EV landscape. However, the company seems to be stuck in a “one step forward, two steps back” paradigm. In other words, every time it seems to be turning over a new leaf, fresh problems arise.
Apple and Rivian are both in need of growth
On one side of the equation, you have Apple, a company whose flagship consumer electronics business is struggling. The company’s revenue has been in consistent decline as consumers wait longer between upgrades of products such as iPhones, iPads, laptops, and wearable devices.
While Apple’s Services business is accelerating nicely, that growth has not been enough to offset the lagging hardware sales. As such, Apple is in need of additional growth drivers.
On the other side of the equation sits Rivian. In 2023, it produced 57,232 vehicles — an increase of 135% year over year. While that’s encouraging, it’s not all smooth sailing from here.
Rivian vastly improves R1S SUV with version 2.0
With more maturity than a Tesla and an improved price, Rivian delivers.
BY DAN CARNEY
The improvements show in Rivian’s next gen SUV. Image: Rivian
The $106,000 Rivian R1S electric three-row SUV was dogged with shortcomings. So I was eager to see what the automaker would do for its next generation of big hype, big price tag vehicles.
The upgrades for what Rivian is terming as the second generation of its R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck directly address the SUV’s unexpectedly harsh ride while also cutting the price. In doing so, Rivian has confirmed the accuracy of my criticisms at that time, which is a bit of a relief. The negative review of the R1S came as a surprise to no one more than me, after I loved the company’s R1T pickup truck at its launch in 2021.
All of this in interesting, but will it really happen? I guess it’s like, you decide and we will talk about. My thoughts are is this just a ploy for stocks to jump on both sides?
Unlikely will happen. Some more thoughts added.
There have been rumors that Apple might be interested in acquiring Rivian, a US electric vehicle firm. However, it is unlikely as Apple recently acquired an artificial intelligence (AI) start-up called DarwinAI instead. The Apple Car project was reportedly scrapped, but a partnership with Rivian could potentially revive it2. Such a deal would be transformative for Rivian, giving it access to Apple’s resources, while Apple would gain entry into the EV marke
