Tangent
Speculation about a possible mobile device from SpaceX comes as the company reportedly plans to expand its business into retail mobile phone service. Chief operating officer Gwynne Shotwell told investors the company was considering plans to offer a terrestrial mobile phone service, the Financial Times first reported last week. The same day, Bloomberg reported the company was in talks with Charter Communications about a partnership to use the internet provider’s ground infrastructure for its phone traffic. SpaceX already partners with T-Mobile to provide direct to cell satellite phone service using its Starlink satellites.
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Crucial Quote
“SpaceX has a long way to go before successfully manufacturing a consumer device at scale and competing against the leading platforms,” analysts at Vital Knowledge wrote after the report on Wednesday. “Musk-led companies are given a massive benefit of the doubt when it comes to product promises (which translates into enormous valuation premiums at SPCX and TSLA based on products that are more ideas than reality), but it’s hard to imagine SpaceX becoming a force in consumer electronics.” SpaceX’s stock price is on a downswing Wednesday, having dropped 7.3% as of around 3:30 p.m. EDT. The slump drove Musk’s net worth down by more than $50 billion, eliminating his status as a trillionaire.
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