Last month, a section of automatic valet parking in the Zhijie S7 was truly breathtaking. Not only is it able to plan its own path and find a parking position, but it also has functions such as actively avoiding pedestrians, reversing gracefully, and smoothly accelerating and decelerating, demonstrating a huge improvement in artificial intelligence technology. The recent progress in electric motor technology, autonomous driving technology, cockpit technology, and chassis technology has put Huawei in a leading position in the field of smart cars.
The key to Huawei's sudden explosive development in all aspects lies in the reuse of its technology. Huawei's huge technology library has made it stand on the high ground of technology from the beginning, and has a stronger technical foundation than other competitors. The existence of this technology library has enabled Huawei to develop rapidly in many fields, and quickly make breakthroughs in the automotive field.
Huawei's earliest involvement in the automotive industry dates back to 2013. At that time, based on its expertise in the field of communications, Huawei launched an in-vehicle communication module with the intention of entering the automotive industry. Luxury flagships such as the Mercedes-Benz S-class and BMW 7 Series also use Huawei's Internet of Vehicles module until mid-2019, when Huawei officially established the Intelligent Vehicle Solution Business Unit (referred to as "Car BU"), and since then it has made greater strides in the automotive field.
Huawei's first blockbuster HarmonyOS smart cockpit, a system originally designed for mobile phones and tablets, solves the problems of running for a long time without lag, more user-friendly design, more beautiful interface, and interconnection with everything. These problems have long been solved in mobile devices, and now these technologies have been successfully ported to the cockpit of the car. Among them, Xiaoyi's intelligent assistant directly uses Xiaoyi on the previous mobile phone Hongmeng system, and it only needs to be further strengthened to adapt to the cockpit environment.
HUAWEI Sounds audio technology has been applied to smart speakers and smart screens in the early days, and the application of these technologies to the cockpit of automobiles only needs to be adapted and improved. Although the use cases are different, the underlying technology and engineering team are already ready-made. Cockpit processors are not much different from tablet processors in nature, but they are better in terms of cooling and power, so improving performance is easier to achieve.
The second is AI technology and AI chips. These technologies were initially used in the installation and operation of various telecommunications equipment, then used for functions such as camera and voice recognition in terminal equipment, and now they are being used in the in-vehicle environment by Xiaoyi and autonomous driving technology. At Huawei, research on autonomous driving technology began in the lab more than a decade ago in 2012, but it has been carried out in a low-key manner. As for the cloud and communication technologies applied to autonomous driving, this is one of Huawei's strengths, and the application of these technologies in the automotive field is just a quick catch. And based on Huawei's AI chip, NVIDIA's most powerful opponent, the computing power chassis created will be the first if it is called the second in China?
Before 2019, Huawei had already accounted for more than half of the market share of security camera chips and other market shares used in autonomous driving. This includes a variety of object recognition and analytical tracking technologies, which have become handy in this regard. In terms of microwave radar technology, Huawei itself is engaged in microwave transmission technology, and it is a global leader in 5G microwave technology, and Huawei is also one of the world's largest microwave equipment companies. Therefore, in the field of autonomous driving, these technologies can also be said to be a matter of course, and Huawei has rich technology accumulation and advantages. As Ren Lao told reporters, Huawei is the world's first in microblogging technology, and Huawei is the world's first in optical transmission technology.
Lidar technology is one step ahead of the industry in Huawei's S7 and M9 models. This is because Huawei is a giant in the field of optical transmission equipment, and has been one of the largest optical chip manufacturers long ago. Since Huawei has accumulated rich experience in the production of optical chips, it is logical to apply the relevant technology to the field of lidar, which makes them have a first-mover advantage in this field. Huawei also has more than 40 patented technologies in LiDAR, such as rotating mirror and MEMS micro-galvanometer. MEMS micro-galvanometer technology is the industry's leading core technology.
In terms of battery supervision technology, Huawei has widely applied a large number of battery technologies on billions of terminal devices. These end devices have built-in artificial intelligence systems that automatically monitor the status of the battery and notify the owner if a problem is identified. In terms of operator services, base stations usually need to be equipped with power batteries. Battery regulatory technology is already very mature in this field. In particular, the development of battery supervision technology has been very sufficient, because the importance of these facilities is directly related to the safe operation of urban networks.
In terms of fast charging and power battery technology, Huawei has used wind, solar, diesel, and battery power systems for base stations in some developing countries in the carrier business. These systems need to be equipped with fast charging and high-efficiency conversion functions to ensure the stable power supply of the base station and adapt to different environments and power conditions.
In fact, Huawei has a precision air conditioning technology. It is also because Huawei used air conditioners from other leading manufacturers during the construction of the computer room, and found that it could not meet the requirements of use, so it developed and implemented it by itself. It is not currently used in the automotive field and is basically not necessary, because this technology has long been widely used in areas such as computer rooms.
At the moment, it seems that motor technology and chassis technology are completely newly developed. In just a few years, electric motor technology has become a global leader in terms of speed and energy efficiency. Huawei's unique R&D system and process are well suited to automotive applications, and it has made breakthroughs in these fields.
Huawei has demonstrated very strong capabilities in technology reuse, which is why Huawei's R&D investment in car BU and smart car is far more than 10 billion yuan per year as seen on the surface. This is because many of the technologies are free to use the company's existing technology accumulation, which is incomparable to other competitors. Even by looking for it in various ** business places, it is difficult to come up with such a neat and advanced technical solution. This technology reuse capability gives Huawei a unique advantage in the automotive field and provides great support for its innovation and technological development.
Seeing this, do you still think that Huawei's entry into the automotive industry is a hot-headed start from scratch?As for the big sofa, big TV, air conditioner, refrigerator and the like, it has nothing to do with the core competitiveness. Huawei will spin off the car BU and develop independently, and the future of China's Bosch will rise!