On May 7, Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei Terminal BG, attended the launch conference of the new HI version of Jihu Alpha S. The industry tycoon known for his "big mouth" once again released harsh words, saying that the Huawei intelligent driving system equipped with the Polar Fox Alpha S is the first in the world, and also added to explain that the hardware architecture is absolutely the first, and the software still needs follow-up polishing iteration.
In addition to introducing the new car, Yu Chengdong also had an additional "Versailles". He said that Mercedes-Benz BMW Volkswagen's 4G and 5G modules for the Internet of Vehicles are actually all provided by Huawei. But Huawei never advertises it, because it's a simple business.
The first feeling of Kung Fu Car when he saw the interview was that he had installed it again, but after checking the information, he could not refute it. What is Huawei's position in the field of smart cars? Let the kung fu car take everyone to see it together.
(1) NVIDIA + Qualcomm + Huawei, smart cars are already three-legged?
The current development of smart cars is actually mainly concentrated in three aspects, that is, intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving and internet of vehicles, which define the functionality, drivability and communication capabilities of intelligent cars respectively.
Qualcomm is the absolute king in the field of intelligent cockpit chips, and its chip computing power has become a highlight of major car companies to promote new cars, such as the Lantu Dreamer, which has just announced its listing, which will be equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 flagship car chips as a major selling point for new cars. This chip is manufactured by a 7-nanometer process, and the computing power can reach 8TOPS, which is a considerable improvement compared with the previous 820A chip, and flagship models such as Lynk & Co 09 and Weilai ET7 are also equipped with this chip.
Of course, this does not mean that it is the strongest car chip at present. In fact, Tesla's new Model Y and Model 3 are already equipped with the latest AMD Ryzen RDNA 2 chip, which has more computing power and can already support the operation of large-scale AAA games.
However, in general, in the automotive market, Qualcomm's universality is stronger, and the market coverage capability is far from being comparable to AMD.
In the field of intelligent driving, NVIDIA occupies the mainstream. In recent years, it has beaten out the older generation of intelligent driving solutions companies Mobileye and Bosch to become the first choice of major car companies.
With the blessing of computing power and justice, NVIDIA's market performance can be described as overwhelming. Xiaopeng, Weima, Zhiji these new forces all use Nvidia chips, Baidu, Didi, Xiaoma Zhixing these travel companies have also been included in the pocket, Weilai's new ET7, the ideal upcoming L9, have also begun to use NVIDIA chips. Even BYD, which has always been known for its full-stack self-research, could not withstand the pressure and reached a cooperation agreement with NVIDIA.
Huawei is the king of automotive communication modules, and Yu Chengdong is right. Its car networking module has sold tens of millions of sets, and it has an absolute position in this field. Luxury flagships such as mercedes-Benz S-class and BMW 7 series also use Huawei's car networking module. Its Baron baseband chip, not only good signal, cost performance is also very good, has a very strong dominance.
In addition, some products involving the surrounding of smart cars also use Huawei's communication modules, such as the 4G and 5G communication modules in the charging piles.
From this perspective, Huawei's position in the field of smart cars may be more stable than Qualcomm and NVIDIA.
(2) Huawei is the most versatile, but also the most "stubborn"?
In addition to doing a good job of communication modules, Huawei is also actively infiltrating into other aspects. It has developed an autonomous driving ADS system, and also launched Huawei's Hongmeng in-vehicle system, which has deep achievements in the two intelligent fields of intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit. At the same time, Huawei is also actively attacking smart hardware, which has greatly reduced the price of lidar, equipped with three Huawei lidar polar fox alpha S, the price is still within a reasonable range.
In theory, what NVIDIA and Qualcomm can do, Huawei is also capable, and it is not worse than the former two, but their market treatment is very different.
At last year's saic motor shareholders' meeting, SAIC executives "made it clear" that if they cooperated with companies like Huawei to drive autonomously, SAIC would lose its soul and cause a big wave. Although there is a suspicion of over-interpretation by the media, it is undeniable that many car companies are very wary of Huawei.
Because Huawei is too versatile, taking the Q&I M5 as an example, it is equipped with HUAWEI DriveONE pure electric drive range extension platform, using harmonyOS intelligent cockpit and Huawei intelligent driving system, and even the audio is HUAWEI SOUND. Car companies are worried that cooperation with Huawei will be "stuck neck" by Huawei, and eventually lose the autonomy of research and development.
In fact, there is no need to worry about this, Huawei has now launched three models: Smart Choice, Huawei Inside and traditional suppliers.
The Smart Choice model is simple, that is, Huawei is deeply involved in product definition, design and sales. Not only the core technology level, Huawei will also be deeply involved in the field of product design and marketing, the M5 is the first mode adopted; the Huawei Inside mode is equipped with Huawei's automatic driving ADS system and Huawei Hongmeng cockpit, which supports car companies to create their own high-end models, and then will be marked with Huawei's HI logo; in addition, Huawei also supports the traditional supplier model, that is, car companies buy separate intelligent hardware from Huawei.
Car companies do not have to worry at all, and what degree huawei needs to do is completely decided by the car companies themselves. If Huawei eventually makes you lose your "soul", it can only mean that the company itself has made too little effort, and directly and unreservedly adopts other people's technologies, but it is not to lose its "soul".
In fact, Huawei wants the same opportunities as NVIDIA and Qualcomm, and in the case of the same performance, if Huawei's products are cheaper and better to use, then choose Huawei.com. The extra vigilance of car companies is really unnecessary.
(3) Refuse to "card neck", domestic car companies should recognize the situation
In the past few years, the domestic mobile phone industry has ushered in rapid development, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, VIVO four major mobile phone manufacturers have achieved good results, Huawei's sales are in the world's top three, can be with Apple and Samsung wrists.
However, when the technical blockade came, several domestic car companies basically had no power to fight back. The reason is simple, Xiaomi, OPPO, VIVO mobile phone chips basically come from Qualcomm (high-end) and MediaTek (low-end). Although Huawei has designed and made its own Kirin series chips, it can be compared with Qualcomm. However, the manufacture and production of chips depends on TSMC to complete, because most of the top lithography machines that produce chips come from Western countries such as the Netherlands, and Huawei cannot purchase them at all.
In this way, Huawei's lifeblood is controlled. Originally, Huawei's high-end models can already compete directly with Apple, and once it is tossed back at least five years, it even has to "divest" the glory mobile phone business.
The more far-reaching impact is that the domestic mobile phone industry has since lost the heart to develop core technologies and compete with international giants. This is a very dangerous thing, more typical is Lenovo, even if it has achieved the world's first shipment of the PC industry, the market value is still pitifully low, because the real money-making part of this industry is controlled by foreign giants.
The situation in the automotive industry is not so severe for the time being, and Great Wall, Geely, and BYD have spent decades mastering the core technology of car manufacturing. In the era of smart cars, they have also kept up with the trend, and most of the core components can be produced in-house. But the premise is not to throw all your brains into the arms of NVIDIA, car companies may gain short-term competitive advantages, but in the long run, it is definitely a disaster.
You may wish to give more opportunities to domestic manufacturers such as Huawei and Horizon, at least so that enterprises can have stronger bargaining power in the follow-up competition.
(4) Kung Fu shooting
As one of the most well-known technology companies, Huawei's IoV module has become an indispensable presence in the era of intelligent cars. But at the same time, it should be noted that in the field of intelligent cockpit and intelligent driving, international giants have begun to occupy more discourse power.
When domestic car companies are wary of Huawei, they should also keep an eye on these international giants such as NVIDIA, and do not make them into the "Qualcomm" and "TSMC" of the automotive industry.
Whether the automotive industry can achieve complete independence depends on the choice of the current drivers.