[datashovel]

I think the ideas presented appear somewhat contradictory. I may be missing something here because the following 2 ideas seem contradictory to me.

1) Apple's secrecy 2) Apple's pivot

If they're pivoting, why be secret about it? One of the reasons provided was that being public about new products could hurt current product sales.

If it's an entirely new product line (ie. car), I have a hard time believing someone will think twice about buying an iPhone because Apple is coming out with an electric car.

Instead being secret seems it may hurt more than help. If I'm in the market for a new car, and there's a real release of an affordable Tesla that has already happened, while at the same time I have no idea what Apple is doing or if they're even going to do it or what kind of timeline the project is on, I'm probably going to buy the Tesla.

Otherwise if I'm somewhat certain that Apple may be coming out with a new car within a year or two, I may decide to hold off with my purchase of the Tesla for the time being in order to consider buying the Apple iCar when it comes out.

[IBM]

Apple doesn't pre-announce things or do concept videos (the only exception I can think of in recent memory was announcing the Mac Pro at WWDC). Things get announced when it's a product ready to be sold. It's tough to say this is the wrong strategy considering the success they've gotten because of it. And there are plenty of counter examples from their Silicon Valley rivals who like to generate PR for blue sky research or things that will never come to market for years (if ever).

[inmyunix]

Watch.

[comex]

Yeah, 7 1/2 months was a pretty huge announcement-to-launch delay for Apple (though the original iPhone went 5). But that's nothing like a "concept video" or "blue sky research" - it was announced as a final product design with the same look and feature set it shipped with (though not with a price), and was probably delayed due to manufacturing issues. The car, on the other hand, is still years out.

[astrodust]

When you're trying to get into a new market the last thing you need is for your competition to prepare themselves. Secrecy lets the competition stay complacent. It's a tactical move.

If Google started braying tomorrow about making cars then car companies would respond. They'd have a harder time rolling out their product.