Tesla is at risk of being steamrolled by the next big transformation in how we get around

• Matthew DeBord
 
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• Aug. 20, 2016, 4:12 PM
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Tesla is in the news so much, and CEO Elon Musk is so good at keeping Tesla cool and sexy, that it's easy to forget that the automaker has been around for a decade.

It's story is exciting: It's the first new, viable American car company since Chrysler was established in 1925, selling all electric vehicles with world-saving and world-changing ambitions, driven by a charismatic Silicon Valley billionaire who also wants to send rockets to Mars. 

But the auto industry is littered with exciting stories that ultimately didn't pan out.

Tesla has defied the naysayers for years, dodged bankruptcy, and captured the attention not just of the public, but also of the traditional car business. But that doesn't mean Tesla can survive the disruption, rapidly accelerating, that it helped set in motion.

We were so much younger then ...

The electric-car narrative is both aging and failing to thrive. Pretty much every other electric-car startup that launched around the same time as Tesla has gone out business. Established automakers talk a good game around electric, but the business is still almost entirely internal-combustion. No one is buying electric cars; they make up only about 1% of current global sales, and in some markets, especially the US, they're declining. 

The new hot story is self-driving vehicles. Uber just dropped a bombshell by announcing that it's unleashing a small fleet of self-driving Volvos on Pittsburgh, jumping ahead of Lyft and its old-school patron, General Motors. (GM and Lyft are aiming to launch their own urban driverless fleet in the coming months.)

The Pittsburgh Uber-Volvo.Uber

Ford said Tuesday that it will have a bunch of fully autonomous cars — no steering wheels, no pedals — on the road in 2021. 

Tesla of course has its ever evolving Autopilot semi-self-driving technology on highways and byways right now. But Musk and his team are taking an incremental approach, adding to the system as they go. The new game, however, appears to steal a page from the Google Car playbook: Go hard for full autonomy and try to get the driver out of the picture as soon as possible.

The wind has shifted. So will Tesla be able to change course?

A long checklist

It's a legitimate question, because Tesla currently has a lot on its plate. Let's just run through it all:

• Launch the $35,000 Model 3 on time in 2017
• Get better at meeting delivery objectives for the Model S sedan and Model X SUV (Tesla has come in at the low end of guidance for two years running)
• Bring the Gigafactory, a massive battery-making facility in Nevada, online
• Hit a Musk-mandated production target of 500,000 vehicles annually by 2018
• Integrate SolarCity into the Tesla business model, via the multibillion-dollar acquisition
• Grow Tesla's energy-storage business
• Make sure Autopilot remains the state-of-the-art for self-driving tech that doesn't use pricey Lidar-based systems

The critical issue is that Tesla, in succeeding as a car company, is now suffering the price of that success. It may have a market cap nearing that of Ford and GM, a pair of 100-year-old automakers, but it's enduring serious developmental pains as it strives to achieve major-car-company manufacturing scale. 

And because the car business, electric or otherwise, is so capital intensive, Tesla is no longer in a position to run like a lean startup. Musk hopes to radically improve the production process, but no one has made a significant leap since Toyota in the 1980s.

Building anything as complicated as cars in industrial volumes challenges the Silicon Valley ethos of "go fast and fix it later." A 4,000-pound vehicle that's designed to go 80 mph just isn't the same as a software platform or a smartphone.

These robots don't write code.Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider

Core strengths

Autonomy isn't the core business of any global carmakers, so they have the luxury of exploring it as a side project. Autonomy is potentially integral to Uber's future business, given that eliminating the cost of human drivers would monumentally enhance prospects for profits. So for CEO Travis Kalanick, owning a capable fully autonomous technology, of the sort that could develop out of the Pittsburgh pilot project, is vital.

It remains to be seen whether the autonomous leap we're currently witnessing in its first stage will go according to expectations. The real world is a messy place, and humans are optimized by evolution to deal with mess. Computers aren't. 

For Tesla, the risk that it will get steamrolled by a disruption of the disruption that it set in motion is substantial. I wouldn't consider this unusual. Sometimes, a transitional company has to set the stage for a future that it can't participate in. 

That said, the only automaker that has a very advanced and thus far quite safe self-driving technology on the road, every day, in thousands of cars, is still Tesla. That advantage can't be discounted. But it shouldn't encourage Tesla to get too comfortable. 

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Lyft president: We were never looking to sell our business and we're not for sale

• Biz Carson
 
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• 14h
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Lyft President John Zimmer. Getty Images

Lyft President John Zimmer blasted reports that the ride-hailing company is shopping itself around, disputing a series of recent news stories saying that Lyft had failed to find a buyer after talking to six different companies.

"Lyft is not seeking a buyer," Zimmer told Business Insider.

"Getting approached and then having it characterized as us wanting to sell the business and failing to do so is a large mischaracterization," he said. "If the company is approached, it doesn't mean the company is looking."

Zimmer did not explicitly deny that acquisition discussions with other companies may have occurred, and he refused to provide any details about the reported talks, which The New York Times and Bloomberg said included Amazon, GM, and Uber among others.

But he insisted that the reports had grossly mischaracterized the situation and that they "crossed a line," forcing the company to break its typical silence on M&A rumors.

Multiple offers

The No. 2 player in the fast-growing ride-hailing business, Lyft is locked in a costly and bitter battle for market share with Uber, which has vastly exceeded Lyft's fundraising by billions of dollars.

Rumors that Lyft had been up for sale started in June when The Wall Street Journal reported that the company had hired Qatalyst Partners, a Silicon Valley firm with a reputation for orchestrating sales like the LinkedIn-Microsoft deal. Companies typically hire bankers to find buyers for a business, or in the case of an unsolicited offer, to compare the offer to the price others might be willing to pay.

Lyft declined to comment on Qatalyst, but Zimmer stressed to Business Insider that the company has never been actively looking for a buyer. It's already had acquisition offers throughout its history as a company, and Zimmer says that the company is obligated to review them.

"That's happened multiple times throughout our business. It's actually more of a normal course of business than has been portrayed, and of course we have to review anything that's of legitimate interest," Zimmer said.

The rumors of takeover attempts reached a peak on Friday after a New York Times articlesuggested that it had had made approaches and had talks with six different companies, including Amazon, Uber, and Google, yet still failed to find a buyer.

A Bloomberg article on Friday also said that Uber would not pay more than $2 billion to buy the company, well below the rumored $9 billion price tag that Recode reported and below its current $5.5 billion valuation.

The New York Times told Business Insider that it stands by its story. Bloomberg declined to comment.

'Enough is enough'

Lyft has previously declined to comment on all M&A rumors, but Zimmer now says that "enough is enough." He's pointing the finger at Uber as the company using "unsavory tactics" to spread the negative or misleading reports.

"We have to be careful with this type of thing for confidentiality reasons until Friday, when we feel like the line was crossed in that it was characterized as us trying to and failing to sell the business," Zimmer said. "And as Friday happened, with both that characterization and the Bloomberg report, we said enough is enough. We need to let people know that we're not looking for a buyer, so that's not a legitimate part of the story. I think it shows a bit of overstepping on Uber's part with the Bloomberg story that fully demonstrates who is behind this."

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick. Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Zimmer would not go into detail about how he believed Uber had spread the false reports, but areport from The Verge on Sunday quoted an anonymous source as saying that Lyft was furious that Uber's CEO had discussed his views on Lyft's valuation with investors.

Uber was not immediately available for comment.

While Lyft might be happy to lay blame on the negative reports, it isn't quite ready to be transparent on what did happen and declined to comment on all of Business Insider's questions regarding which companies had talked with Lyft and at what price any offers were made, citing confidentiality agreements.

Specifics aside, Zimmer's larger argument is that the whole process has been misconstrued and misrepresented from the beginning. He said that he never had a plan to sell the company this summer, nor did he reach out proactively to do so.

Zimmer said that he's happy with Lyft's trajectory, citing a record July and being on track to hit $2 billion in gross merchandise volume, or total value of rides.

"We're focused on being an independent business and having the largest impact on car ownership as we possibly can," Zimmer said. "I don't think [independence] is a requirement, but I believe right now it's the best path."

SEE ALSO: Here's the moment when I realized how miraculous self-driving technology really is

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Amazon working on music subscription service for $5 a month: Recode

• Reuters

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Amazon.com's logo is seen at Amazon Japan's office building in TokyoThomson Reuters

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said it was working on a music subscription service that would cost about $5 a month and would only work on its Echo hardware, Recode reported, citing sources.

Amazon would like to launch the services in September, but has not finalized deals with major music labels and publishers, Recode reported. (http://on.recode.net/2bJIM5z)

Amazon was preparing to launch a standalone music streaming subscription service at $9.99 per month, in line with major rivals, Reuters reported in June, citing sources.

The Recode report said one sticking point, sources say, is whether Amazon will sell the cheaper service for $4 or $5 a month.

Amazon was not immediately available to comment.

(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

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Toll Brothers revenue jumps 23.5 percent

• Reuters

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A single family home is shown under construction by Toll Brothers Inc, the largest U.S. luxury homebuilder, in Carlsbad, CaliforniaThomson Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc reported a 23.5 percent rise in quarterly revenue, boosted by an increase in home sales and prices.

The company said its net income rose to $105.5 million, or 61 cents per share, in the third quarter ended July 31 from $66.7 million, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose to $1.27 billion from $1.03 billion.

(Reporting by Arunima Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sunil Nair)

Read the original article on Reuters. Copyright 2016. Follow Reuters on Twitter.

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China has taken over Scotland's North Sea oil production

• Lianna Brinded
 

• 6h
• 1,760

Oil rigs are left in the Cromarty Firth on February 1, 2016 in Invergordon, Scotland. Getty

China has taken over Scotland's oil production and now controls two of the North Sea’s biggest oilfields.

According to The Times' analysis of China National Offshore Oil Corporation's (CNOOC) accounts, a CNOOC-owned company Nexen extracts nearly 200,000 barrels of oil per day across those two fields. This makes it the largest producer in the area.

According to The Times, CNOOC, a state-owned oil company and is controlled by China's ruling communist party, has been able to grow its marketshare in Scotland rapidly because former Chancellor George Osborne gave tax breaks for oil companies in the North Sea.

In 2014, the tax charge would have been £2.5 billion for the year. However, in 2015, there was a tax credit of £361 million, according to CNOOC’s annual report for last year as pointed out by The Times.

Although CNOOC will not not receive the full benefit of the £2 billion break this year, it said in its report, “our income tax credit changed 114% mainly because the UK government decreased the combined income tax rate on North Sea oil and gas activities from 62% to 50% [which] resulted in a one-time reversal of deferred tax liability.”

Why China invested in a struggling sector

Reuters

In March last year, Osborne cut taxes for oil companies in a bid to counteract plunging oil prices and dwindling reserves.

Two things were making the North Sea undesirable for companies. Oil prices fell to low double digits from over $100 per barrel in June 2014— oil prices are still struggling to stay above $50 per barrel. Meanwhile, North Sea oil reserves are drying up.

In 2014, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) laid out how the North Sea oil industry is in dire straits. The average oil output in 2013 from the North Sea clocked its lowest level since 1977. The Office of Budget Responsibility also showed production forecasts for North Sea oil continue to drop dramatically.

For a company, the North Sea is probably not the best place to invest and expand. This is why BP and a range of other energy giants cut jobs.

Scotland also massively depends on oil for revenue. Data from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) shows that North Sea contributes around £10 billion to the Scottish economy.

So, when Osborne cut taxes to keep companies there and jobs going, China saw an opportunity to broaden its marketshare — looking at the long term, rather than the short term.

"It may be part of a general strategy to boost the credibility and legitimacy of Chinese companies operating within Europe," Jeffrey Henderson, professor of international development at Bristol University, told The Times. 

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6 things that’ll give you a more productive desk setup

• Jeff Dunn, Insider Picks
 

• Aug. 17, 2016, 10:31 AM
• 125,667
 
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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we may get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Polk Audio

This article was originally published on 3/18/2016. 

Computing has gone more and more mobile, but there’s still a place for the trusty old desktop. If you need to hunker down to get work done or just carve out a place for your Steam sessions, a desk-bound machine will still get you the most performance for your money.

It’s not uncommon for these things to come in an all-in-one package, but for those who can afford to adjust their setup, we’ve gone through the essentials and picked out our favorites.

If your work station is in need of an upgrade, the accessories below should help.

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The monitor

Amazon

A brawny computer can only do so much if the monitor hooked up to it is out-of-date. If you’re in need of a new display, look to the 27-inch Dell UltraSharp U2715H. It’s not exactly new, but its 2560x1440 IPS panel is sharp and vibrant out of the box. The monitor itself is sufficiently adjustable, and it surrounds that display with nicely thin bezels. 

The experts at The Wirecutter consider the U2715H the best 27-inch monitor going today, while its family of devices has a 4.5 rating on Amazon after 1,030 user reviews. That family of devices includes the 24-inch UltraSharp U2415, which has similar strengths if you need to save space. Just know that Dell has new monitors coming very soon, if you can afford to wait.

It’s also worth noting that the UltraSharp isn’t explicitly made for gaming. If that’s a concern, something like the BenQ XL2730Z could be a better fit. It’s a TN panel, so its colors and viewing angles are aren't as great as a comparable IPS, but it’s still crisp and accurate for what it is. More importantly (for a gaming monitor), its fast 144Hz refresh rate and FreeSync support make it super smooth in handling motion onscreen.

Dell UltraSharp U2715H 27-inch Monitor, $475.63, available at Amazon.
BenQ XL2730Z 27-inch Monitor, $498.99, available at Amazon.

The keyboard

Amazon

If we’re being particular about our desktop tech, it may be worth switching to a mechanical keyboard. As many self-professed gamers will tell you, they’ll hold up longer to abuse, help boost your typing accuracy, and simply feel more satisfying to the touch.

Das Keyboard has long been respected by enthusiasts, and its Das Keyboard 4 Professional brings the high-quality feel and finish its following would suggest. It’s full-sized, with a handy set of built-in media controls, and while it isn’t as featured as a full-on gaming keyboard like the Razer BlackWidow Chroma, it’s much more understated. It comes with either Cherry MX Blue (which are clickier but louder) or Cherry MX Brown (which are softer but quieter) switches, and hasoptions designed for Macs, too.

Das Keyboard 4 Professional (Cherry MX Blue), $164.84, available at Amazon.

The mouse

Amazon

If a "luxury mouse" is something that could exist, the Logitech MX Master would be it. It looks expensive, and it is, but its big, textured curves are both comfortable and easy to grip. It can be used wired in, through a Logitech USB receiver, or over Bluetooth Smart, and its years-long battery is rechargeable (though not user-replaceable). It comes with five customizable buttons on top of that, including a second scroll wheel on its side. It’s not for lefties, though, and it won’t work all that well for gaming — for the latter, we still like the Razer DeathAdder Chroma.

Logitech MX Master, $71.99, available at Amazon.

The speakers

Amazon

It’s probably not a stretch to say that your default computer speakers aren’t that crisp. If you use your desktop for entertainment as much as getting things done, the Polk Audio Hampden will give it more life. They sound great for a speaker this small, with a smooth, immediate profile that isn’t lacking in bass and can get unusually loud. They can connect over USB or Bluetooth (with aptX), and, at least to us, look pretty stylish to boot. Reviews from InnerFidelity, Digital Trends, and PCMag have approved as well.

Polk Audio Hampden Bluetooth Speaker System, $249, available at Amazon.

The webcam

Amazon

The webcam built into your laptop, tablet, or smartphone might be fine for casual Skype chats, but if you’re stuck in videoconferences or remote interviews with any regularity, there’s a good chance you’ll want something more professional. 

The Logitech C920 is just that — its 1080p video is crisp, its audio is clear, and it does very well to automatically adjust to lighting changes. An upgraded C920-C model is even smoother for $30 more, but for most, this should be more than fine.

Logitech C920 HD Webcam, $62.99, available at Amazon.

The USB hub

Amazon

If your PC doesn’t supply enough ports for all your accessories, or you just want a place to charge your various mobile devices, it’s worth looking into a USB hub. 

This 10-port USB 3.0 model from Anker won’t chew up too much space on your desk, is well-spaced, and has more ports than you’ll probably ever need. Three of those ports charge up to 2.1A, meaning they’ll refill your devices faster. And for what it’s worth, Anker generally has a good reputation with these things. 

Ideally, we’d recommend a hub with a more reasonable 7 ports, but finding one that costs less, uses USB 3.0, and supports multiple 2.1A ports proved surprisingly difficult. For now, the Anker is still a good value.

Anker 10-Port 60W USB 3.0 Hub, $39.99, available at Amazon.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Business Insider's Insider Picks team. We aim to highlight products and services you might find interesting, and if you buy them, we may get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners, including Amazon. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Have something you think we should know about? Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.

Read the original article on Insider Picks. Copyright 2016. Follow Insider Picks on Twitter.

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