Space exploration technology company launched a powerful new rocket falcon heavy-duty, and successfully launched seven orbital missions. Tesla has been trying to produce electric cars at the promised speed, which raises questions about the company's cash flow and encourages short selling. On March 23, a driver died after his Tesla autopilot hit an obstacle, although the system was not intended to be used without the driver's hand.
The analysis of the two companies often focuses on Musk's social media antics and arrogant confidence, but both companies are run by professional teams. Their commercial success, like market forces and global trends, depends on Musk's strategic adventure brand.
In fact, Tesla's growth troubles are related to a simple fact: it tries to do more difficult work than space exploration technology company.
Rocket industrial complex
Space exploration technology company's banner for one year is based on its ability to start and resume the daily work of reusable rockets. In the past year, it has reused more rockets than its main American competitor, the United Launch Alliance. Even if it cannot be reused, its rocket is much cheaper than other vehicles that can fly into orbit.
The secret of the company is ... trying to make cheaper rockets. The main competitors of space exploration technology companies are government-subsidized enterprises, and there is not much motivation for innovation. By adopting fairly direct strategies, such as using off-the-shelf components, focusing on simple and reliable systems and planning a high flight rate, the company can surpass the current company.
Although its reusable vertical takeoff and landing rocket technology is a real engineering achievement, it was proved by McDonald Douglas and NASA in the 1990s. Other rocket manufacturers realize that reuse is possible, and they are not sure whether they can regain control of costs through rocket flight. Space exploration technology company is willing to take risks to make this technology a reality.
(Space Exploration Technology Company)
Perhaps most notably, the competitors of Space Exploration Technology Company failed to catch up with them. The company's main technical competitor is another startup, Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, which has not yet launched an orbiting rocket. Rocket manufacturers such as Arianespace and United Launch Alliance in Europe are only now beginning to develop reusable systems. Due to the national security rules, the space program of potential competitor China is basically unrestricted for many satellite operators.
There is no doubt that the history of founding the rocket company can hardly meet the requirements of bankrupt entrepreneurs, and the space exploration technology company almost completely failed before the rocket began to fly. But space exploration technology companies benefit from active participation in a stagnant industry.
Global automobile machine
Few rockets are made in this world, but many cars are made. In 20 17, 90 orbital rockets were launched globally; Space exploration technology company is responsible for 18. In the same year, global automakers produced 73 million cars; Tesla earned about 65438+ million.
Tesla did not enter a stagnant market, but entered one of the most competitive regions on earth, facing not only domestic competitors such as Ford and GM, but also global giants such as Volkswagen, Toyota and Hyundai to develop ultra-efficient factories, making 5000 vehicles or more every week.
Tesla's growing pain has recently focused on catching up with the challenges of these automated mass production systems; Tesla currently produces 2,200 Model 3 cars every week, and has a large number of late orders to complete. On the contrary, in the aerospace industry, mass production is unusual, and most parts are assembled by hand. Space Exploration Technologies has been trying to automate this process, in part because Musk has learned from Tesla.
Tesla
And Tesla doesn't just want to be a cheap car. It is trying to make the first mainstream all-electric passenger car. This needs to push the existing battery technology to the limit, and new progress may be needed before electric vehicles can charge more than hundreds of miles at a time. This also means competing for taste and user experience in price and ability. This is one of the reasons why the company chose to start with luxury cars and has been committed to Model 3, a moderately priced mid-range car.
Different from the aerospace industry, in the face of Tesla's challenge, the automotive industry has not been taken seriously. The successful appearance of Tesla roadster and Model S highlights the market appeal of all-electric vehicles. Gm first introduced the all-electric Chevrolet bolts in 20 15, and the sales volume has been rising. Volkswagen said that by 2030, a full range of all-electric vehicles will be provided. Another challenge that Tesla faces in building self-driving cars is not only novel, but also highly competitive, laying the foundation for competition with traditional car companies. And startups like WayMo and Uber.
Dig deep into the advantages of customers
You may be surprised to find that space exploration technology company needs much less external financing than Tesla (about 654.38 USD+0.7 billion USD equity) (about 654.38 USD+0.25 billion USD equity and debt).
This part is the customer's problem. Only a few dozen organizations buy rocket launches, and they are used to investing millions of dollars in savings. The rocket's most important customer is the US government. NASA has provided space exploration technology company with billions of dollars to develop tools to transport goods and astronauts to the International Space Station, so that the company can use external income instead of raising funds to succeed.
On the other hand, Tesla has to reach millions of potential customers, and although it has obtained deposits from buyers, it still maintains a refundable price. Contacting and serving all these customers requires the establishment of more than 200 stores around the world-besides design, engineering and production, this is not a small capital cost. All this requires not only private investment, but also initial public offering and a large amount of debt. The initial public offering is also subject to public supervision, and space exploration technology companies are quite deliberately not facing this. Musk said that he will not make the company public until the company officially serves Mars.
"I hope people think that if we can send it to the asteroid belt of the sports car, we may be able to solve the production problem of Model 3," Musk told investors in the earnings conference call, and Space Exploration Technologies later launched the sports car into the solar system with its new Falcon heavy rocket. On the contrary, he may have noticed that if making 1000 electric cars every day is as easy as launching an orbiting rocket, Tesla has already done it.