Apple Met With Tesla CEO, Is Exploring Medical Tech In A Bid To Grow Further
In a recent and interesting profile of Apple’s head of acquisitions Adrian Perica, the San Francisco Chronicle has claimed that the Cupertino, Calif. company met with Tesla Motors chief executive officer Elon Musk last spring.
The publication explains that over the last 18 months, Perica has been embarking upon an acquisition spree that has centered around Apple’s next-generation product lines. Apple CEO Tim Cook noted at D11 last year that his company had acquired nine others since the previous October, and following this statement a handful of acquisitions pointing to Apple’s interest in wearable technology and even a fully fledged HDTV product have surfaced online.
If the San Francisco Chronicle has it right, though, “Apple is thinking bigger. Much bigger.” According to a source close to the newspaper, “Perica met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Cupertino last spring around the same time analysts suggested Apple acquire the electric car giant.”
Back then, German analyst Adnaan Ahmad penned an open letter to Cook and board director Al Gore, arguing that Apple should consider making a bid for Tesla, and wrote: “I know this is radical and potentially ‘transformative’ but this would radically alter Apple’s growth profile. In Elon Musk, you could strike up a partnership and obtain a new iconic partner to lead Apple’s innovation drive.”
The San Francisco Chronicle, however, reports:
Six months before Ahmad’s letter, Musk met with Perica and probably Cook at Apple headquarters, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect business relationships. While a megadeal has yet to emerge (for all of its cash, Apple still plays hardball on valuation), such a high-level meeting between the two Silicon Valley giants involving their top dealmakers suggests Apple was very much interested in buying the electric car pioneer.
Analysts say it’s unclear what Tesla would gain from such a deal.
Talk about intriguing. The article continues to hypothesize that an Apple partnership (rather than a takeout) could see iOS-powered, touch-based screens appear in future Tesla car models; the Cupertino, Calif. company is of course planning on bringing its mobile OS to in-car displays as of iOS 7.1, using its iOS in the Car feature, and this could be one aspect of Tesla’s business Apple is particularly interested in.
The San Francisco Chronicle goes on to explain that Tesla isn’t the only focus of Perica’s, though. While most reports have linked Apple’s recent interest in medical technology with its iWatch, the publication goes on to claim that the company is looking to develop a technique for predicting heart attacks “by identifying the sound blood makes as it tries to move through an artery clogged with plaque.”
Such an innovation could see Apple enter a whole new industry – “the sizable medical device market,” the article adds. We’ll keep you updated with further information on this as we receive it.
In the meantime, for the entire profile of Apple’s Adrian Perica head over to the San Francisco Chronicle’s website.
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