Apple Inc’s ambitions in the transportation space mean the iPhone maker could emerge as Tesla Inc’s “first true competitor,” Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster said Monday.

Regardless of the approach the Tim Cook-led company takes, it has transportation industry ambitions that could result in “meaningful revenue” and pitch the tech giant head-on with Tesla, wrote Munster.

A Marriage Of Titans: “Apple building a car is not news,” the analyst noted — mentioning the company’s self-driving car project, Project Titan, that started in 2014.

In that era, Munster says, the company had three avenues, “First, build an Apple-branded car. Second, build software and license it to other automakers. Third, acquire Tesla.”

The analyst dismissed all likely Project Titan outcomes, noting that the Apple-Tesla marriage, on the table five years ago, did not occur because both the firms felt strongly about design…CLICK for complete article