Will Tesla produce a phone? Elon Musk’s statements

The Tesla CEO stated during a town hall last month that although the concept “makes him want to die,” he will if necessary. What may be the decisive elements? Following remarks made by CEO Elon Musk, the long-dormant notion that Tesla might produce a phone has finally come back into the spotlight.

Musk supported Donald Trump’s presidential campaign by holding a series of town hall meetings in Pennsylvania in October. At the October 18 session, the topic of a phone was brought up. It takes a lot of effort. “I want to die at the thought of making a phone,” Musk remarked. “However, we will strive to avoid making a phone, but if we must, we will.”

Will Tesla produce a phone?

Musk claims that the justification for producing a phone would depend on his assertion that companies like Apple and Google take an intrusive stance. “The different companies, like Apple and Google Android, need to make sure they don’t have a strong hold on the App Store and other things, or they will make it harder for competitors to exist.”

Musk has previously made similar claims. “If there’s an essential need to make a phone, I’ll make a phone, but I’ve got a lot of fish to fry,” Musk stated at a New York Times event in November 2023. After Apple Intelligence was revealed in June 2024, same rumors reappeared.

In response to a user who suggested that the tech giant create a “Grok phone with Grok integrated,” Musk replied on X, “If Apple genuinely puts woke nanny AI spyware into their OS, we might need to do that.” Grok is the X social networking platform’s AI chatbot. Since X users’ posts are collected as training data for the chatbot outside of Europe unless they choose not to, Musk runs the danger of seeming hypocritical in this situation.

In response to Tim Cook’s own X post on June 10 on the debut of Apple Intelligence, Musk said, “Either stop this creepy spyware or all Apple devices will be banned from the premises of my companies.” Musk’s bravado-heavy responses to tech advancements that he dislikes include his statement that he would order one of his firms to produce a phone.

Claims such as these may often be brushed aside from another technological leader. However, a similar response prompted Musk to pay £41 billion to acquire Twitter, which has subsequently changed its name to X. According to reports, Musk intended to back out of that agreement before realizing that doing so would expose him to a $1 billion cost and the possibility of being sued for far larger damages.

How could a Tesla phone appear?

Is it possible to get a phone that is branded like X or Tesla? The project would most likely make use of the AOSP foundation, which is essentially Android’s fundamental skeleton without many of the features that make it desirable, such as Google’s suite of applications and the Google Play app store. For instance, the Meta Quest headsets and Amazon’s Fire tablets both employ it.

The Tesla or X team would then be in charge of developing an app store and essential apps for web surfing, email, and other tasks. as well as for creating the software’s user interface. One major factor that made Huawei phones difficult to recommend to practically everyone in the UK in 2019 was the absence of the Google gloss that distinguishes an AOSP-based phone from a full-fledged Google Android one.

This is also a historical cautionary tale. With the Fire Phone, Amazon made an effort to enter the smartphone industry in 2014. Based on AOSP, it had four front-facing face-tracking cameras that allowed it to create a 3D-like impression from various viewpoints. Even though Amazon had been producing Android tablets for three years by this point, the launch was a complete failure.

According to reports, it only sold 35,000 devices, and two years after its 2016 introduction, Amazon had more over £60 million in unsold inventory. The Amazon Appstore, the app store for Amazon’s Fire tablets, is still criticized for having a small selection of software, which was one of the main reasons for its demise.

Due to the enormous sums of money needed to promote phones and other devices, the expenses of a phone extend beyond its production. Each year, Apple and Samsung invest billions of dollars on marketing. Since acquiring X, Musk has reduced its workforce by 80% in an effort to save operational expenses. Even though some fans appear quite eager to see a Tesla Phone or X phone become a reality, it’s easy to see why Musk is so hesitant to commit to one.