Did Apple Discuss Buying Tesla With Elon Musk Last Fall?Did Apple Discuss Buying Tesla With Elon Musk Last Fall?

On Wednesday, Tesla will report its full-year financial results for 2013, a year in which it seems to have sold more than 20,000 Model S electric luxury sedans.
It’s an impressive figure for the startup electric automaker, and enough to make you wonder what Tesla could achieve with one of the world’s largest companies behind it.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle (via MacRumors), a source close to technology firm Apple suggests the computing giant may already have talked about acquisitions with the Palo Alto-based automaker.
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The source claims that Adrian Perica, Apple’s mergers and acquisitions chief, spoke with Tesla CEO Elon Musk last fall.
Around this time, some industry analysts were suggesting that Apple should acquire the electric car maker.
Another analyst says the meeting was more likely a way of discussing iOS integration into Tesla’s vehicles–though why Apple would send its acquisitions chief for such a meeting is less clear.
Also unclear is whether any Apple-Tesla deal would be a takeover or merely a partnership.
While Apple is among the richest companies on earth, Tesla’s stock market flotation has allowed the firm to raise significant capital itself. Sales of the Model S are also going well, and the automaker is yet to fully launch in China, where the market potential is huge.
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Apple backing would provide extra financial security though. Both companies also seem to complement each other, too–strong brand loyalty, innovative products, a user-friendly design and the all-important “want one” factor that spurs sales.
Tesla’s stores have more than a hint of Apple about them–unsurprising, since until his departure last year, Tesla’s stores were the brainchild of ex-Apple man George Blankenship.
Predictably, both companies have declined to comment on the rumors.
Was the Tesla-Apple meeting last year simply a discussion of future in-car functions? Or is Apple first in line for a potential Tesla takeover? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
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