Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticized Apple twice at a second-quarter earnings presentation held on the 26th (local time). Apple is using cobalt for its batteries, and Apple CEO is more obsessed with controlling software (SW) of its devices in a "walled garden" (closed ecosystem) than improving sustainability.
In a way, this may have revealed what is as important as Tesla's tremendous positive performance in the Chinese market.
In the end, Elon Musk seems to have targeted Apple, which will become a leading electric vehicle competitor. And I think it will continue to be the case.
Elon Musk, 50, mentioned the control that Apple uses on its Cobalt and Apple iOS devices for iPhone and Mac batteries. It was a remark that could be read as a snipe at the "closed ecosystem" because each uses too much cobalt, which is not sustainable and eco-friendly.
Although Apple claims that nothing went wrong, cobalt is often a representative mineral that raises concerns about being unethical. Musk's remarks are therefore clearly embarrassing for Apple CEO Tim Cook.
It is not the first time Musk has shot Apple. At the end of last year, he wrote on Twitter, "When I had a hard time with Tesla 3 (2018), I tried to call CEO Tim Cook to discuss the acquisition of Tesla, but Cook refused to meet." (Tweets may be interpreted as a mockery of Tim Cook's narrow view, as Tesla's stock price has more than 10 times higher than then.)
When asked about the raw materials used in car batteries, Musk said, "I use much less cobalt than Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California."
"There is a misunderstanding that Tesla uses cobalt a lot, but in fact, we don't," Musk said in the conference call history. "I think Apple uses almost 100% cobalt for batteries in cell phones and laptops," he said. "But Tesla does not use cobalt for iron phosphate battery packs and rarely uses nickel-based batteries."
"Based on the weight average, if Apple uses 100% cobalt, we will use 2% cobalt. Anyway, it's not a battery that we basically expect to use no cobalt in the future," he punched.
Why is cobalt usage a problem?
Some have called cobalt, a rare earth mineral essential to batteries, a "blood of batteries" diamond. In other words, he likened cobalt to a "blood diamond" in which children are forcibly mined in the African civil war. "Blood Diamond (2007)" is set in Sierra Leone, the world's top diamond producer. In this country, rich diamonds do not help the economy, but rather cause blood and war. Many people are forced to work like slaves, and diamonds are illegally traded and used as a source of funds for war and terrorism.
Both companies, along with other IT giants, were listed in the lawsuit filed by international human rights groups in 2019 for using cobalt mined by children.
At the Battery Day Event in September last year, Tesla announced that it would eventually make batteries with cobalt-free cathodes, citing cobalt mining methods and environmental destruction.
Apple said in its 2021 Environmental Progress Report that both cobalt (and other metal minerals) smelters and refineries participated in an independent third-party audit. Apple added that it is "priorizing" 14 raw materials, including cobalt, to increase or replace the amount of recycled raw materials used. "We've been trying to increase the use of recycled cobalt every year," Apple said in the report. The amount of recycled materials used in FY2020 doubled from the previous year. And the cobalt of iPhone batteries that Daisy dismantled is returning to the general market. "This more efficient and economical approach allows others to use materials beyond our supply chain and continues to generate positive environmental benefits."
◆ One more time while you're at it?
Musk's shooting at Apple wasn't the only one.
"But we want to emphasize that that's our goal and that supporting the emergence of sustainable energy is not to create a 'walled gatrden' and use it to attack competitors," Musk said when asked about opening up a network of train superchargers used exclusively for Tesla cars. He said this and then said, "Apple," coughing in vain.
Musk has once again targeted Apple's ecosystem, which controls software, hardware, and all other aspects of Apple's devices, using the so-called "walled garden" approach. Apple has been under pressure from rival companies as well as U.S. Congress members over its App Store policy, and was sued in August last year by Fortnite developer Epic Games for monopolizing iPhones, iOS ecosystems and app stores. The case is awaiting a ruling.)
Tesla, of course, was saying that it wasn't.
Earlier this month, Musk announced, "Tesla has decided to open 25,000 supercharger global networks to other manufacturers' electric vehicles by the end of this year."
Currently, Tesla electric vehicles in the United States can be charged using dedicated adapters at more than 900 charging stations operated by the company. Tesla uses CCS DC connectors, which have become an international standard in Europe. (For now, it is unclear whether Tesla will set up a supercharger charging station in one area or open simultaneously around the world.)
◆A war of nerves as the Titan project approaches?
Anyway, there is definitely something acceptable about Tesla's head Musk, who has emerged as the epitome of electric cars around the world, shooting Apple as he was asked about cobalt.
Apple is known to be working on the Titan Project, an electric vehicle project led by Doug Field from Tesla. Of course, the two global tech giants in the United States are not competing directly so far. However, as Apple's Apple car, a leading competitor in the electric vehicle market, is getting closer and closer, it seems clear that it is only getting Tesla on edge.
In addition, its electric vehicle engineers, who worked with them, are making the competition. Apple and Tim Cook cannot be seen as beautiful as Musk.
Maybe that's why Musk said in 2018, "Apple is not as innovative as it used to be," and three years ago, he called Apple a "Tesla graveyard" for Tesla employees.
Maybe Muskrowon wanted to emphasize its openness by comparing the opening of its global supercharger charging stations with Apple's own closed ecosystem.
What's the point of such a shot?
Anyway, most of all, it is Tim Cook and Apple, who have been working on the Apple Car project since many years ago.
It may not be an Apple that will die or stop the project, but it seems to have succeeded in blocking Apple's mouth with a story that cannot be answered. (Apple hasn't made an official comment on Musk's shooting, yet.)
Musk's new remarks targeting Apple also eloquently reveal the ever-increasing global electric vehicle market competition.
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