Reports of Apple - Tesla meet last year, sets off speculation

Electric car maker Tesla Motors' CEO Elon Musk, reportedly met with the Apple executive in charge of mergers and acquisitions last year, which has set off a round of speculation over the future plans of the two companies.

Rumours doing the rounds range from the iPhone maker associating with the inventor due to his vision reminiscent of that of Steve Jobs, to Apple getting into the business of selling electric cars.

But what puts a dampener on the speculation is the fact that Apple mergers chief Adrian Perica met with Musk almost a year ago, according to  the San Francisco Chronicle report.

The report refers to Apple's interest in acquiring the recently profitable Model S car maker but offered no proof other than what usually happened in such "high-level meetings.''

According to commentators, there were plenty of other reasons, for Apple and Tesla coming together. Musk recently announced that his company was setting up the world's largest battery plant, "giga factory" in the US, whose output, lithium-ion batteries would interest Apple.

The electric car maker could also be added to the list of car manufacturers supporting Apple's impending 'iOS in the Car' project. There were a dozen confirmed automakers, but Tesla did not figure in the list.

Accordibg o commentators, Apple and Tesla share much between them - both had men with an eccentric streak at the helm, both hae made bold claims and had bold aspirations; both have demonstrated potential to redefine the industries they operated in, and both had overcome obstacles that could have proved insurmountable to lesser players.

Commentators point out that it could make sense eminent sense for the two companies to collaborate or, even  merge.

However, considering the meeting happened nearly a year ago, and the progress Tesla had made since then, could point to future collaborations or Apple making its own foray into the automotive industry.