Apple’s self-driving project undergoing strategy-reboot, to focus on software

Sometimes I feel that Apple was too obsessed with iPhones all this while that somewhere it got stuck- a mental block as to what next. Not just this, the Cupertino giant seems to have lagged behind in many other upcoming tech segments especially the autonomous vehicle technology.

And sensing that it has already lost some important battle-ground, the company is rethinking its ambitious plans for the self-driving car and has shut down some major parts of its project, reports New York Times.

Apparently, the company has also laid off about several dozen employees in the process, say sources close to the development.

The company’s secretive autonomous car initiative is reportedly undergoing a strategy-reboot, codenamed ‘Project Titan’, moving away from building its own electric car to focus on developing self-driving software. This change has been undertaken by Bob Mansfield, an Apple veteran who has taken over the project in July, to turn it around and make some actual progress instead of living in the unknown. Prior to Mansfield, the secretive project was spearheaded by Steven Zadesky, who left the company earlier this year.

Primarily because of the initial problems and glitches to develop an autonomous electric car, Mansfield has refined focus on developing software for these cars. In the process, he has also brought under control the mounting issues of the division ballooning to over 1,000 employees in the past eighteen months. Thus, he has axed the personnel, he thought, are no longer required after the restructuring.

Focusing on its key strength i.e. software, the tech giant has already progressed to real-life testing on a closed track, according to the report.