Apple CEO Talks Necessary Changes in the Auto, Television Industry

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, joined Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Gerald Baker live on stage yesterday for WSJDLive, a conference featuring “top CEOs, founders, pioneers, investors, and luminaries” speaking about technology.

During the conference, Cook touched on the Apple Watch, the growth of Apple Music (Cook mentioned that the service has 6.5 million paying subscribers, as well as another 8.5 million customers using their free three-month trial), corporate culture, and more. However, Cook discussed at length the future of the auto and television industry, and how both are ripe for change.

On the subject of the auto industry, Cook spoke of the increasing importance of software as a component of the automobile, and Apple’s short-term focus on CarPlay. Cook said that Apple would “like people, as they enter their car, to have an iPhone experience in their car.” Speaking more broadly, however, Cook mentioned that he thinks that “there will be a massive change in that industry” in the future, and that both autonomous driving and electric vehicles will be key components in the auto industry.

However, when the subject of Apple developing their own automobile was brought up, Cook was a bit more ambiguous. “We’ll see what we do in the future,” said Cook, “but I do think that industry is at an inflection point for massive change.”

On the topic of television, Cook was much more direct, calling the current model of television a “terrible, broken process.” Cook claimed that the “user experience is in another decade” and needs to be “brought up and modernized.” When speaking of the new Apple TV, Cook claimed that he has “never been so confident that [the device] is the foundation of the future of TV.” He stated that the new media player, which offers a more interactive and intuitive user experience, will go on sale next Monday, October 26^th, and will begin shipping later that week.

The discussion delved into Apple’s broader focuses as a company, and how Cook envisions consumers interacting with technology in the future. Although some questions were still left unanswered by Cook (“when is that Apple car coming?”), it’s clear that the future of Apple is a very exciting one.