The rise of new energy vehicles makes technology car manufacturing a reality, and intelligence will become the next direction and trend in the field of automotive Internet, when we give smart cars the role of "intelligent terminal devices", who can become the Windows of the automotive circle?
The system battle under the tide of automotive intelligence
In the era of the Internet of Everything, the automobile is gradually evolving from a traditional travel tool to a new generation of intelligent terminals that integrate entertainment, office, life and other attributes.
Similar to smartphones and computers, cars are also gradually moving towards the separation of software and hardware, and software is increasingly becoming an important factor in demonstrating the differentiation of OEMs and improving customer experience. Focusing on software-defined vehicles and building centralized electrical and electronic architectures and SOA software frameworks have become common goals for all parties.
Miao Wei, deputy director of the Economic Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former minister of industry and information technology, said at the 11th China Automotive Forum that in the era of software-defined automobiles, the vehicle computing platform needs CPU plus operating system, in view of the experience of the United States to suppress Chinese high-tech enterprises, it is necessary to plan independent and controllable chips and operating systems as soon as possible. At the same time, a unified open source open operating system can form APP software on top of the framework and form an industrial ecology.
The universal operating system in the automotive sector is the next outlet
China's auto industry needs to have its own unified operating system; after the chip "famine" crisis, China's auto industry needs to establish an independent and controllable automotive grade chip industry system; China's automotive semiconductor and integrated circuit development needs to build a world-class advanced enterprise; vehicle network cloud collaboration - road transport, electronic communications, Internet, automotive and other industry enterprises, need to work together to promote the strategic development of intelligent networked vehicles based on 5G V2X.
The trillion-level intelligent car market does not need to be repeated, even in public, Huawei, which has repeatedly emphasized that it does not build cars, still enters the intelligent car ecology in all directions, from the release of the smart car solution brand HI (Huawei Inside) to the heavy participation in Xilix SF5, Huawei of "no car" has shown strong enthusiasm and initiative in the intelligent car ecology, compared to a smart car company, Huawei seems to want to become a "water seller" of the smart car ecology.
Huawei's "car building" was frustrated
The distance between ideas and reality is sometimes so large that even giants like Huawei can't take it.
"The person who gets the operating system gets the smart car world" may be a bit fluttery, but the importance of the operating system is self-evident for the intelligent car ecology, Huawei wants to become the upstream of the intelligent car company, but the HI (Huawei Inside) program was "snubbed" by many auto companies as soon as it was thrown out, and CHEN Hong, chairman of SAIC, threw out the "lost soul" and refused to accept the cooperation provided by Huawei to provide an overall solution.
Faced with the difficulty of opening up the market, Huawei tried to directly "intervene" in the terminal market.
GAC E-An, BAIC Jihu, Changan Avita, Xiaokang Xilis and other brands equipped with HI (Huawei Inside) solutions have become Huawei's choice for "curve" car manufacturing, but even huawei's first smart model Cyrus SF5 sold through channel stores, according to the data of the Association, from April to October this year, the sales of Xelis SF5 (including all channels including Huawei stores) totaled less than 6,000 vehicles.
In the face of such a dismal performance, Huawei may also deeply appreciate the difficulty of building a car. However, Huawei and many car companies, standing at the turning point of the times, will obviously not give up "building cars" because of some difficulties.
Huawei, who wants to ride, and car companies with different ideas
Whoever controls the intelligent car operating system can grasp the soul of the car. In the field of consumer electronics, Windows and Android show a strong and ecological discourse power, enough to make any technology company crazy, and Huawei's ambition for cars is naturally there.
On June 2, 2021, Huawei officially released the Hongmeng Operating System (HarmonyOS), which can integrate multiple devices into one terminal and form the Internet of Everything. In addition, the car, as a hyperterminal, will also be equipped with a new Hongmeng operating system.
Huawei said at the TEDx theme conference that more than 300 partners have joined the Hongmeng ecosystem, and it is expected that more than 40 mainstream brands and 100 million ecological partner devices will become the new entrance to the Hongmeng system experience in 2021, and Huawei's "1+8+N" all-scenario system will gradually grow. HarmonyOS launched a large-scale push in June after Huawei's smart screen, Jihu α smart cockpit and other vehicle equipment and smart home applications.
Relying on the company's strong technical strength, Huawei has cooperated with a number of car companies to continuously improve its layout in the field of intelligent vehicles.
Polar Fox Alpha is the first model equipped with Huawei's HI smart car solution, Alpha S Huawei HI version of the smart cockpit runs hongmeng OS operating system, equipped with 990A cockpit chip, with a computing power of more than 3.5Tops; the number of apps in the hongmeng OS smart cockpit has reached double digits, including AutoNavi map, Kugou music and so on. The 21.7-inch 4K screen extends from the driver's seat to the passenger seat and supports multi-gesture operation and screen switching.
The biggest highlight of the Alpha S Huawei HI Edition is that it is equipped with Huawei ADS (Autonomous Driving Solution) high-end autonomous driving full-stack solution, and it is also the first intelligent electric vehicle equipped with Huawei's lidar solution. It has technically reached the point where the vehicle can judge the road conditions throughout the process, providing an autonomous driving capability close to the L4 level, divided into three modes, according to traffic policies, open to consumers everywhere.
It can be seen from the landing of all aspects that Huawei really wants to "ride" on the wave of new energy vehicles, but automakers may not let go easily. First-line new energy vehicle brands, especially new energy vehicle brands that are incubated by traditional automobile companies, most of them have their own operating system research and development plans, after all, once the initiative of the operating system is released, it means that in the future in the era of the Internet of Vehicles and even intelligent services, the initiative will be handed over to people.
Huawei who wants to ride and car companies with different ideas, the domestic new energy vehicle operating system to be truly unified may have a long way to go, but if you want to make layout and preparation before the advent of the global intelligent car era, "hugging the group forward" is the most feasible.
The era of software-defined cars is accelerating
In the era of software-defined cars, the operating system is definitely a "place where soldiers must fight", but the problem is that if you want to win this "territory", it is really difficult for a company alone to do things.
At present, the global in-vehicle system is divided into three camps: QNX, Linux, emerging forces camp, of which, QNX has a longer history, high stability, higher market share, including BMW, Audi, Ford and other more than 200 car companies in the world have cooperative relations with QNX, and their in-vehicle systems are also used in tens of millions of cars. However, QNX is a closed source system, and there may be weaknesses in future ecological construction.
Systems such as Alibaba, Baidu's in-vehicle operating system and Huawei Hongmeng have gradually begun to be applied, while traditional car companies such as Volkswagen have gradually begun to build their own systems and participate in intelligent competition in the era of intelligent vehicles. The pattern of the on-board system will gradually change, and "new forces" such as Huawei Hongmeng are expected to gradually expand their share.
Electronics Enthusiast Network, Minsheng Securities Research Institute
For car companies, if they join the Android ecosystem, it is likely to mean losing control of user data, and Huawei said that it "does not build cars", only provides intelligent parts and services, retains greater autonomy for car companies, and is expected to be more favored by car companies.
According to the analysis of the current in-vehicle operating system pattern, QNX can beat the core factor of mainstream operating systems such as Android as its microkernel advantage, making it naturally have the characteristics of high security and high stability, which is the top priority of the in-vehicle operating system. We pointed out two years ago that Huawei's Hongmeng operating system has been designed specifically for AIoT from the beginning, and the same microkernel architecture as QNX is its most important feature.
Hongmeng operating system with microkernel, underlying independent deep customization, open source and open three characteristics, will be one of the best choices for a unified operating system in China's automotive industry, and the automotive operating system is also one of the primary "battlefields" that Huawei Hongmeng cannot miss.
Huawei
Hongmeng operating system can realize the integration of different devices into a content ecology, break down the barriers of each mobile device, and an operating system can adapt to computers, tablets, watches, car machines and other terminals.
At present, the content that can only be used in mobile phones can also be migrated to devices with fewer original functions such as watches and car machines to achieve the free circulation of content in the operating system, which will also make a huge change in the use experience and content ecology of the car operating system. Calls, navigation, video, and music can all be insensible switching between the car's smart cockpit and other devices.
At present, the car operating system developed by car companies, every time an application or peripheral is added to a function, the first-level supplier needs to spend a long time to synchronize, but the version of the operating system changes, the original changes will be overturned and restarted, so the version can not be managed at all. This means that the current car cannot achieve the same ecological unity as the mobile phone, and it is impossible to achieve the rapid update of the version like the mobile phone.
However, based on the Hongmeng operating system, there is a sharing and connection between the car machine and other intelligent terminals, and a set of systems can meet various hardware devices, connect people, cars, homes and other intelligent devices, realize the interconnection of all things, and accelerate the realization of "software-defined" cars.
Write in the end: Smart car back-end ecology
According to McKinsey's forecast, software is expected to account for more than 30% in 2030, and the global scale is expected to reach $84 billion, of which intelligent driving and smart cockpit are the main software value areas. Car companies have upgraded from traditional car machines to intelligent car machines, the customization demand for operating systems is in an explosive period, QNX global operating system licensing fees have reached 490 million US dollars, and the software service provider business has entered a period of rapid development.
Application software is a central focus for future growth, and SP in particular will be the biggest differentiator in the future of in-vehicle experience. Traditional SPs are mainly navigation engines, map engines, etc., and in the future, surround vision systems, automatic parking, fatigue monitoring, and V2X-based services are expected to become popular applications.