Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday put his mixed signals on building a phone in perspective, saying that though the company could indeed build a phone, he hopes that it is not “needed.”
What Happened: Tesla has its tech stack, thereby enabling it to build its phone, Musk said, while adding that he hopes that it is not needed. The CEO was responding to a note from Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas who predicted that Tesla will indeed make a phone in the future.
Jonas, in a note on Wednesday, said that he expects Tesla to make a phone as the lines between phones and cars are “truly blurring.” Furthermore, Tesla owners already use their smartphones as their car’s primary key, the analyst said.
Why It Matters: Musk has been giving mixed signals about his EV company making a phone over the past week. On Sunday, Musk announced in a live stream on X that Tesla is not going to make a phone.
However, on Tuesday, the CEO said that his tech company X manufacturing a phone running on a custom open-source operating system in partnership with another smartphone maker is “not out of the question.”
Musk first hinted at making a phone in November 2022, following his acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X, amidst uncertainty about the microblogging platform's status on mainstream app stores.
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