Digital giant Sony dabbles in car manufacturing In the spring, a mobility company will be set up to prototype the car has been tested on the road

Per reporter: Pei Jianru Per reporter Per editor: Sun Lei

Entering 2022, the car track is still hot, and even the "big man" of the digital circle, Sony (that is, Sony Group Company), has announced that it will build a car.

Recently, Kenichiro Yoshida, chairman, president and CEO of Sony Group, announced that he will establish a company called Sony Mobility Inc. The operating company (Sony Mobility) plans to explore the electric vehicle market through the company in the spring of 2022. Currently, Sony is developing an electric vehicle called VISION-S.

According to reports, Sony Mobility aims to make the best use of AI and robotics to help achieve a world where everyone can live in harmony with robots, and its business mainly includes VISION-S, autonomous entertainment robot aibo, and drone Airpeak.

"Sony, as a 'creative entertainment company' that redefines mobility, has a strong advantage in this field, and VISION-S is an important initiative for Sony to promote the evolution of mobility." Kenichiro Yoshida thinks.

At CES 2022, Sony showcased a new prototype IC photo for its Vision S concept electric car

Prototype of a new SUV

In fact, Sony's idea of moving into mobility has a long history. As early as CES 2020, Sony released the "VISION-S" concept and presented its prototype. In December of the same year, Sony began public road testing in Europe, validating the safety of image and sensing technologies installed inside and outside the vehicle, as well as the user experience of human-machine interface (HMI) systems.

At that time, there were rumors that Sony was cutting into the car-making track. But Sony denied this, saying that "the company is committed to the research and development of autonomous driving technology, VISION-S is only to show the technology, Sony has no intention of building a car." ”

During CES 2022, Sony released a new SUV prototype (VISION-S 02), which is equipped with the same electric vehicle cloud platform as the previously released prototype (VISION-S01), and has now begun public road testing.

It is understood that Sony Vision-S 02 is built by Sony's artificial intelligence team and robot team, equipped with a four-wheel drive system provided by two electric motors, and installed 40 sensors, including CMOS image sensors and lidar. At the same time, the VISION-S system equipped with the vehicle can also be combined with the car audio system and the human-machine interface system to achieve intuitive driving interaction, so that the driver can accurately judge the surrounding environment from the car, such as whether there are emergency vehicles around. Sony is currently conducting functional verification tests for VISION-S models in Europe with a view to releasing the L2+ advanced driver assistance system for open roads.

It is worth noting that in April 2021, Sony has already started 5G environmental driving tests in order to provide more technical support for its electric vehicles. Sony said that the vehicle settings, key locks and user settings of the VISION-S series models can be synchronized through 5G communication technology connected to the cloud. Because vehicle updates can be achieved through over-the-air push upgrades (OTAs), vehicles can continuously improve service functions and added value while maintaining safety.

Looking for new growth points

According to public information, as one of the world's largest electronic product manufacturers, Sony's main business includes games and network services, music, movies, SIPS (image-related), CMOS processors and semiconductors. However, with the development of 5G technology in recent years, Sony's main business has also been impacted.

Sony's first-quarter fiscal 2021 financial report showed that its PS4 shipments fell by 1.4 million units from the same period in the previous fiscal year; the total sales of PS5 and PS4 gaming software in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 were 63.6 million units, down 27.8 million units from the same period in the previous fiscal year. Not only that, Sony's financial report for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 showed that its net profit attributable to shareholders was 213.1 billion yen, down 54% from 458.6 billion yen in the same period last year.

In this context, Sony is also looking for new business growth points and gradually transforming into an integrated entertainment group, and games and music are currently becoming its main performance drivers. At the same time, Sony is also constantly increasing the in-car market.

Industry analysts believe that Sony's layout in the automotive field will provide a foundation for it to enter the field of car manufacturing, and its biggest advantage may be concentrated in the intelligent level. Public data shows that as of now, Sony occupies nearly half of the global CMOS image sensor (CIS) market, and image processing chips and semiconductors are essential hardware for smart electric vehicles.

Since 2014, Sony has invested heavily in the in-vehicle CIS market. For example, in November 2021, Sony launched its first high-performance sensor for automotive use, LiDAR, which is expected to be available to the public in March this year. The product supports applications in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) systems, which can achieve high-precision, high-speed measurements with a distance resolution of 15 centimeters, measuring distances of up to 300 meters; in August 2020, Sony released a high-precision Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver chip, which in addition to the Internet of Things and wearable devices, can also provide accurate positioning and stable communication functions for automotive services and other fields.

China International Capital Corporation Research Report believes that with the acceleration of the process of automobile electrification and intelligence, giants in the fields of consumer electronics and communications such as Huawei, Xiaomi, Apple, and Sony will bring new design concepts and technological revolutions to the automotive industry.

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