Apple to take a crack at home robotics after failed car project, investigating avenues for ‘next big thing’

After abandoning Project Titan, its car project, Apple is considering jumping into personal robotics, and potentially making a significant shift in its product offerings

Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Apple’s engineering teams have been tasked with exploring what personal and home robotics can the company look into. As of now, the top contenders include a mobile robot capable of following users around their homes and a tabletop device that uses robotics to manoeuvre its display.

Although these projects and investigations are still in their initial stages, their commercial viability still remains uncertain, Apple finds itself under increasing pressure to explore new revenue streams or their ‘next big thing’

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Following the discontinuation of its electric vehicle project earlier this year and the prolonged development timeline for its mixed-reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, the company is now looking for alternative avenues for future growth as revenues from traditional smartphones and computers seem to be slowing down worldwide.

The potential entry into robotics could position Apple to establish a stronger presence in the consumer tech space and take advantage of Apple’s investments in its own AI. However, the specific direction of Apple’s approach to robotics remains unclear, as Apple executives explore the feasibility and more importantly the demand for such products.

The robotics research and development efforts are reportedly underway within Apple’s hardware engineering division and its AI and machine-learning group. All of this is being overseen by key figures such as John Giannandrea, while executives like Matt Costello and Brian Lynch, who focus on home products, have been spearheading hardware development.

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The company is yet to make a firm commitment to any of these projects. Moreover, even if Apple does go ahead with the development of these robots, it is unlikely to make any official announcement any time soon.

It will be interesting to see what effect Apple’s foray into robotics has on investors. While the company’s stock saw minimal gains following reports of their venture into robotics, stocks of other robotics companies saw a significant, albeit brief Surge.

iRobot, for example, known for their Roomba vacuum cleaners, saw their stock surge briefly.

The concept of a tabletop robotics project initially got a lot of excitement among senior Apple executives, including hardware engineering chief John Ternus, the Bloomberg report says.

However, concerns have emerged about whether consumers are willing to invest in such expensive and high-tech devices. Concerns have also come up about the technical challenges related to the design and functionality of these new product lines.

The Cupertino-based tech giant is also exploring several diverse projects, including bringing radical updates to existing products to make major strides in health technologies. However, Apple’s pursuit of its next big thing may prove to be challenging as it tries to replicate the success of the iPhone.

While Apple’s venture into robotics is still in its infancy, it joins other tech giants who ar also looking for opportunities in this domain. Amazon, for instance, introduced its Astro home robot in 2021, albeit with limited availability and market penetration.

(With inputs from agencies)