how do domestic and foreign companies view and lay out the upgrade of the automotive sensor “track”?
2024-10-05
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as core components of automobiles, sensors are widely used in powertrain, chassis, body systems and other fields to monitor and transmit vehicle status information at all times, playing a vital role in improving vehicle performance and ensuring safety. smart electric vehicles, in particular, are becoming more and more dependent on sensors, and their demand is rising rapidly, triggering related companies to compete to increase their deployment, and also giving rise to new technological changes.
under the trend of smart electricity, automobile sensors usher in a new long-term
from a functional perspective, automotive sensors can be divided into two categories: body sensors and intelligent environment sensors. traditional vehicles mainly involve body sensors. according to the collected body status information, they are divided into temperature sensors, pressure sensors, speed sensors, current sensors, and position sensors. sensors, optical sensors, etc.; environmental sensors mainly include cameras, radar, etc.
how do domestic and foreign companies view and lay out the upgrade of the automotive sensor “track”?
previously, traditional fuel vehicles mainly involved body sensors such as temperature, pressure, and angle. the arrival of the era of smart electric vehicles has brought disruptive changes to sensors in terms of quantity and technology:
first of all, the number of bicycle sensors and the value of bicycles continue to increase. from the perspective of intelligence, the accelerated penetration of air suspension, brake-by-wire, and electric power steering systems will drive the growth of height sensors/acceleration sensors, position sensors, torque sensors, etc.; from the perspective of electrification, the heat management will drive growth in current, pressure, temperature sensors, etc. in addition, battery safety and other issues also need to be monitored by adding sensors.
secondly, the addition of smart components has led to the upgrade of vehicle body sensor functions. environmental sensors such as on-board cameras, lidar, millimeter-wave radar, and ultrasonic radar are new components of smart cars, and the demand for smart driving upgrades continues to increase. we have seen that the number of ultrasonic radars on new cars has increased from 3 to 5, 12 or even more.
how do domestic and foreign companies view and lay out the upgrade of the automotive sensor “track”?
based on the increase in quantity and functions, the automotive sensor market has shown explosive growth in recent years. according to cicc estimates, china's automotive sensor market is expected to reach 144.9 billion yuan in 2026, with a compound growth rate of 26.1% from 2021 to 2026.
driven by technology, domestic and foreign companies accelerate their layout
new market growth opportunities have triggered domestic and foreign leading companies to accelerate their layout. at the same time, many emerging companies have entered and achieved rapid development in the short term. what is the specific situation, and how do companies view the current status of the automotive sensor market, the current status of technology in subdivisions, and future trends? during the recently held sensor china 2024 exhibition, gasgoo visited some companies and communicated with relevant persons in charge. , let’s find out together.
● tyco electronics: opportunities outweigh challenges and continue to expand sensor application areas
as a giant in the sensor industry, tyco electronics has made early technical reserves in terms of vehicle electrification and intelligence, and its product research and development is developing in the direction of miniaturization, low power consumption, high precision, multi-dimensionality, and integration.
during this exhibition, the company focused on displaying high-precision resolver sensors developed for new energy vehicle motor drives, which can accurately measure the phase angle of the motor. at the same time, brake pressure sensors for electronic hydraulic brake systems (ehb), as well as seat position sensors and brake light sensors for safety applications were also exhibited.
how do domestic and foreign companies view and lay out the upgrade of the automotive sensor “track”?
in addition, according to dai bin, director of sales and marketing department of tyco electronics sensor division in china, the company is also simultaneously exploring other areas, such as wire-controlled chassis, and currently has products in pre-research, testing, and even mass production ;smart cockpit applications include safety-related seat sensor applications, and corresponding products have also begun to be laid out. "many sensor technologies are scalable. although the applications may be different, the basic technologies are the same. te sensors have 9 categories and 32 subcategories of core sensing technologies, which can be quickly expanded to more applications. "dai bin said.
talking about his views on the current auto market, dai bin said: "china's new energy vehicles are the most active in the world, and the market size is very large. we often say that challenges are opportunities. with the accelerated iteration of end products, customers' product development the cycle will continue to shorten and product iteration will be faster, which also means that customers will give us more and more opportunities for new projects. "
regarding the increasingly fierce price war in the current market, dai bin pointed out that cost optimization can bring direct benefits to users, but technology can bring long-term benefits to customers. how to make breakthroughs through technological innovation and allow sensors to give cars increasingly stronger performance and higher safety factors is the meaning of "volume".
● naxinmicro: business speeds up, domestic and foreign markets work together
as a leading domestic high-performance and high-reliability analog and mixed-signal chip company, nanocore has grown very rapidly in recent years. corporate financial reports show that nanocore automotive chip shipments will exceed 100 million in 2022, reaching 164 million in 2023, while shipments in the first half of 2024 alone have exceeded 133 million.
in terms of sensor business, nanocore mainly focuses on three major categories: magnetic sensors, pressure sensors, and temperature and humidity sensors, covering automotive powertrain systems, automotive thermal management systems, domain control systems, body electronics, and smart cockpits.
during this exhibition, the company brought many innovative products. for example, in terms of magnetic sensors, it exhibited the high-bandwidth integrated current path current sensor nsm211x, as well as a new magnetic switch series (nsm101x series, nsm105x series, nsm107x series) , including programmable car-standard switches, ultra-low power tmr switches, etc. in addition, it also launched new pressure sensor products to help car companies meet the national vi regulations, including the nspas5n series absolute pressure sensors that perform well in corrosion-resistant environment applications, and the nspgl1 series of vehicle-grade integrated sensors that are highly competitive in fuel vapor applications. differential pressure sensor.
zhao jia, product line director of nanocore, pointed out in an interview with gasgoo that the company’s rapid growth is mainly due to the following two aspects: first, the emergence of market opportunities and the trend of chip localization; second, the company’s long-term development in technology and products through innovative research and development, we released the right products at the right time and seized the opportunity. it is understood that the company’s total r&d investment in 2023 will reach 520 million yuan, accounting for nearly 40% of its turnover.
at the same time, zhao jia also bluntly said that companies are currently facing the challenges of fierce competition in the automotive industry. it mainly includes the following two aspects:
first, at the product level, today's automotive architecture is becoming more and more complex, which brings considerable challenges to chip companies' product definition and innovation. facing the rapidly changing market demand, in addition to having strong product research and development capabilities, we must also keep up with the trend of system application. take the sensor category as an example. nowadays, customers' requirements for sensor categories include: first, higher and higher precision; second, better and better product performance; third, they even require more redundant designs for functional safety. if there is only a single requirement, it can be effectively responded to by the company, but when chip companies need to meet many of the above requirements at the same time, they must not only make good products, but also control costs, and they will indeed feel greater pressure.
secondly, customers' system applications are being rapidly iterated, and companies need to continuously strengthen their understanding of customer system applications and provide customers with solutions and products that can truly solve their pain points. only by continuously providing customers with products and service experiences that exceed expectations can we gain an advantage in the fierce market competition.
"in order to enhance competitiveness, in addition to strengthening product research and development, naxin micro is also constantly building core capabilities and improving the company's overall comprehensive competitiveness, such as continuing to build quality management systems, strengthening cost control capabilities, building talent echelons, and creating a platform-based technical ip and so on." zhao jia said.
in addition, the continuous expansion of product application fields is also being considered by nanocore, such as humanoid robots, low-altitude economy, ai sensing and other fields that have become popular in recent years.
overseas markets are also an important business expansion point for the company. it is understood that nanoxin micro has established subsidiaries in germany, japan, south korea, and the united states. in the first half of 2024, about 15% of the company's revenue will come from overseas markets. "we have seen that the world's leading chip companies, without exception, must have the ability to operate the global market, rather than rely on operating a single regional market to become a global leader. based on this judgment, nanochip made a firm decision a few years ago make strategic choices about globalization," zhao jia added.
● suzhou yiboda: strengthen advantageous products and work hard on internal skills
suzhou yiboda was established in 2021, focusing on the design, manufacturing, packaging and testing of mems, and multi-sensor fusion system integration. although it has not been established for a long time, the company has made rapid progress in product research and development. it has developed accelerometers, gyroscopes, inertial measurement units (imus), high-precision integrated navigation and positioning systems, vru inclination sensors/nsg north seekers and other products. it can be used in automatic driving and assisted driving systems, electronic stability control systems, anti-lock braking systems and airbag deployment systems, etc., and has been recognized by the market.
"high-precision mems inertial sensing devices have high technical barriers and face many technical challenges in terms of product design, manufacturing technology, and process stability. after a long period of running-in and iterative improvements, the company has successfully overcome these technical problems and has since we have developed high-precision accelerometer and gyroscope chips," said tang huhai, sales director of yiboda.
regarding the current technology hotspot - multi-sensor fusion, tang huhai pointed out that sensors are developing in the direction of technological integration and innovation, expansion of application fields, intelligence, standardization and strengthening of data security and privacy protection. these trends have promoted the widespread application and popularity of sensor fusion technology.
for technology start-ups, the most important thing is to practice hard, strengthen technology research and development, and improve competitiveness and risk resistance. "no matter how the market changes, every company must have its own core competitiveness. we must improve our internal skills and make the core accelerometer and gyroscope chips well. because the products have corresponding technical thresholds, there are not many domestic manufacturers in the market at present, so we must seize the opportunity.”
● dongchao technology: taking a different approach, aerial imaging technology has been implemented
anhui dongchao technology co., ltd. was established in 2016, focusing on aerial imaging technology as its research and development direction. at present, the company's interactive air suspension imaging technology has been implemented in the automotive field. it can be placed above and below the center console, on the back of the front seats, on the rear center armrest, and on the side of the door handle. it can both image and deliverable. for example, users can interact with the car genie suspended in front of the central control, including voice interaction, click interaction, gesture interaction, etc.
"in principle, scenes that require display or interaction may be replaced by interactive aerial suspension imaging technology." said liu hong, head of the dongchao super technology supervision center.
regarding whether the command will be delayed, liu hong pointed out that the single-sided infrared sensor used for imaging is different from the gesture interaction of the depth camera. the latter requires a certain amount of computing power, while the former requires very little calculation and has very high positioning accuracy. it's zero latency.
as for cost, liu hong pointed out that there are currently fewer companies involved in aerial imaging, and the price is not very high for the time being. the main focus is on the roll technology: first, the positioning accuracy must be high and the scanning frequency must be high. second, the imaging quality of the lens must be high.
it is understood that dongchao technology is jointly developing a full range of vehicle products with more than a dozen oems. a number of new energy vehicles equipped with suspended digital elves have been put into production one after another, with an estimated annual output of 300,000-500,000 units.
summarize:
from the above point of view, technological changes in the automotive industry have brought new opportunities to the sensor industry, changed the market structure, and also promoted technological breakthroughs. both domestic and foreign giants and new entrants are gradually expanding their markets and channels on the basis of continuous intensive cultivation of niche areas and increased technological innovation. in the overall rapid development environment, the sensor market will usher in a new bloom.
source: gasgoo
