Automobile: Huawei Tang Jin aims to become a platform in the automobile industry | Economist Weekly Online

Huawei is setting the industry standard with its smart cars. It is possible that it will emerge as a new major player in the automotive industry.

We don’t make cars; our weapons are brand power and technological strength.

Huawei, the Chinese IT giant, held a new product launch event on September 10 and unveiled a new triple-A smartphone called the Mate XT. The product, which competes with Apple’s iPhone, comes in three types at a price between 19,999 and 23,999 yuan (about 400,000 to 480,000 yen), and the number of pre-orders has reached 6.85 million people. Yu Chengdong, president of the Consumer and Smart Car Solutions Business Unit (BU), emphasized the innovation of the new smartphone, and at the same time emphasized the innovation of the new smartphone. Mr. Yu said proudly, “The M9 has held the top spot in China’s new car market worth more than 500,000 yuan (about 10 million yen) for five consecutive months.”

Huawei’s sales in the first half of 2024 increased 34.3% year-on-year to 417.5 billion yuan, recovering to the second highest level from the peak in 2020. While the smartphone industry, which was hit with US sanctions, coming back regularly, the car industry, which he entered after the sanctions, quickly became profitable. Huawei, which has emphasized its policy of “not making cars,” is constantly advancing its ambitions to become a platform in the smart car industry by leveraging its power brand and technology capabilities.

“HI” logo on the vehicle

Huawei launched the IoV (Internet of Vehicles) division in 2013 and entered the auto parts industry, including drive parts and in-vehicle electronics. In 2019, we established Smart Car Solutions BU, which is engaged in the research and development of smart cockpits, AI (artificial intelligence) platforms, big data, etc., and has become a mega-supplier in the auto parts industry which is similar to the German industry. Bosch and Continental I am about to accept the challenge.

On the other hand, unlike traditional parts production, car-related parts and systems such as laser radar, high-performance LiDAR sensors, and cameras are the brains that control the vehicle and ‘ requires deep involvement in the development of car manufacturers. Against this background, Huawei launched a business model called “HI” (acronym for Huawei Inside) in October 2020. The company announced its policy to support manufacturers cars as a smart car software provider that provides the HiCar system, which has a function that connects in-vehicle cameras and smartphones, and the autonomous driving solution “ADN.”

The partner automaker will design, develop, and engineer the user interface (UI), including the vehicle concept and riding experience, and will adopt Huawei’s core architecture and HI system . The red “HI” logo attached to the vehicle suggests that Huawei aims to establish itself as a “standard in the EV industry”. Currently, the HI system is used in the NEV (new energy vehicle) brand “Avatar” under Changan Automobile, the high-end NEV brand “Voyah” under Dongfeng Motor, and the off-road brand “ Bengshi”. ‘.

However, problems with the HI model are quickly emerging. Not only are there differences in the speed at which new businesses are promoted, but traditional manufacturers cannot keep up with Huawei in terms of integrated product development (IPD), which integrates hardware is software.

In fact, since 1998, Huawei’s IPD has learned and absorbed IBM’s development system, built its own development process, and shown great strength in China’s IT industry. While we provide drive, cockpit, and cabin solutions necessary for SDV (software defined vehicle) transformation, we also offer DriveONE, a key component that integrates motors , battery control units, gearboxes, etc., LiDAR, unique OS.” Huh…