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| Huawei is trying to replicate the success of automobile smartphones |
The Chinese tech giant Huawei faces US sanctions that have impeded its basic networking business. He targeted the new growth area for smart cars and set himself the goal of bringing the digital world into every car.
Given the ongoing technological tensions between China and the United States, Huawei's entry into the smart car industry has sparked turmoil in the Beijing-sponsored industry.
While some believe that Huawei’s involvement could lead to technological breakthroughs that would accelerate the spread of self-driving cars and other types of smart cars, some fear the dominance of giants and pressure on smaller players.
When Huawei entered the smart car industry, its core telecom and smartphone business was also hit hard by US sanctions that prevented Huawei from receiving critical software and components since 2019..
Last November, when the consumer smart car business merged under the leadership of Richard Yu, Huawei's ambitions in new areas became more apparent. Richard Yu is the architect who founded Huawei and who has grown into a world leader in the smartphone industry over the past two decades.
She asked these analysts to speculate whether the company wants to replicate the success of its smartphones and allow smart cars to contribute more to the group's sales in the future.
A Huawei spokesperson said: The smart car industry is an emerging business for Huawei. We have enough strategic patience to invest in this sector and there is no need for profit in the short term.
The company also believes that the smart car industry is changing a lot, and so is the shift from multifunction phones to smartphones in the mobile phone industry.
While its new strategy may worry young players, Huawei itself faces stiff competition from rival Chinese tech giants, with the latter setting its sights on smart cars and autonomous driving.
Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu have entered this region with the advantages of deep learning and artificial intelligence when Huawei is weak.
Huawei first announced its intention to become an infrastructure provider in April 2019 and made its debut in the smart car industry. A month later, the company officially launched a new business unit for smart car solutions.
However, Huawei's transition to automotive research and development dates back to 2014 when Huawei established an online car lab.
Analysts believe that since the beginning of the deployment of information and communication technology (ICT), it has provided the current benefits of the smart car industry.
Huawei has received technology and auto parts that it puts into smart cars in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Information and communication technology is one of Huawei's main advantages in the smart car industry.
Huawei said its ability to implement ICT-based hardware and software in the automotive industry was the main reason for its entry into the smart car field.
Radar technology collects information from the vehicle's surroundings and is a great example of how Huawei's ICT capabilities can contribute to smart vehicles.
Huawei announced in 2019 that it would use 5G technology to develop millimeter-wave radars and lidars for smart cars.
He later formed a team dedicated to developing low-cost, multi-channel lidar sensors with the goal of making the technology applicable to all smart vehicles.
With China's goal of bringing the first self-driving cars to the market by 2025, Chinese self-driving startups are looking for cost-effective ways to adopt the technology widely.
Huawei's participation in the smart car industry has lowered equipment prices and helped China make more progress, reducing the risk of it being blacklisted by the United States on technology sources.
Another milestone in the development of smart vehicles from Huawei is the launch in October of its smart automotive solutions platform, dubbed Huawei HI.
With support from HarmonyOS, the platform focuses on cockpit, intelligent driving, and intelligent vehicle control, and the solution also includes augmented reality technology to improve mapping services and route detection.
Although Huawei can provide ICT software and devices for smart cars, the company’s founder and other senior executives said: They do not intend to build a smart car.
Instead, Huawei wants to provide the communications equipment and software needed for the smart vehicle revolution, and in May formed an alliance with 18 carmakers to accelerate the commercial development of vehicles connected to 5G networks in the country.
Huawei is now working with traditional automakers by first providing smart devices, then implementing its software, to achieve the goal of being a comprehensive supplier.
Huawei has no illusions that its entry into the field of smart vehicles may bear fruit anytime soon, and a company spokesman said: It takes Huawei normally eight years on average for a new business to achieve the desired results.