Huawei seeks more partners in smart-vehicle supply chain unit to support EV shift
Huawei Technologies is inviting more carmakers to invest in its smart-car unit as it looks to diversify and expand its interest in China's fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) sector, according to Xinhua News Agency.
The telecoms equipment manufacturer is opening the door to outside investors to help turn its unit Shenzhen Yinwang Intelligent Technology into an open-source platform for developing new EV technologies, the state-run news agency reported on Fri, citing its chairman Eric Xu Zhijun.
"We will continue to bring in strategic investors and welcome EV industry players [to buy into Yinwang]," Xu said, according to the report. "New technologies and new driving experiences will help the industry avert unnecessary intense competition." He did not elaborate on the investment plan.
Huawei would hone its image as a supplier, rather than an assembler, to smoothen the industry's transition to electrification and digitalisation, he added. The firm will help its prospective partners to cut development costs, accelerate new model launches, and improve efficiency in testing smart-driving systems.
The group established Yinwang early this year to focus on autonomous driving, digital cockpit, auto lighting and vehicle control. Huawei agreed to sell a 10% stake in the unit to Avatr Technology, an EV manufacturing unit of state-owned Changan Auto, for 11.5 billion yuan (US$1.63 billion) in Aug.
Yinwang is set to clinch the title of China's top smart car supply-chain vendor as it rides on Huawei's innovative capability, manufacturing might and talent pool, analysts at Pingan Securities wrote in a report last month.
Huawei has been supplying local carmakers such as Arcfox and Avatr with automotive chips, lidar sensors and digital technologies that allow cars to be semi-autonomous and linked to the internet.
It ventured into the car industry in 2021 through Aito, an EV venture with Chongqing-based carmaker Seres. Seres agreed to pay 2.5 billion yuan to buy the Aito trademark and patents from Huawei, it said in Jul.
Analysts said the deal reflected Huawei's determination to enhance its role as a supplier of auto systems and know-how. Aito has been China's fastest-growing EV brand since 2023, with drivers impressed by Huawei's autonomous driving software, computing system and intelligent thermal management.
Aito delivered 253,648 cars to customers in the first eight months of this year, a 659% surge from a year earlier. It is now ranked as China's 7th-largest EV maker in terms of unit sales, according to data published by the China Passenger Car Association.
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SoundOfMusic : Huawei is behind Xpeng in smartification, so they are asking for help from third parties. The smart thing to do is to license the smartification technologies from Xpeng, who owns the full stack. Make Xpeng the China champion in smart driving to compete with Tesla. Reinventing the smartification wheel for Huawei is super expensive and misallocation of capital.
Another point is open source smartification is dangerous. Have you seen the supply chain attack by Israel? How can people have confidence to drive a smart car, not exactly knowing where the software is from at 120km/hr? Xpeng owns the full stack to do L4+ in two years time.
bullrider_21 OP SoundOfMusic : Quite a few EV makers are using Huawei's smart driving system.
SoundOfMusic bullrider_21 OP : Could you please give me a list. I would like to learn. Thanks.
bullrider_21 OP SoundOfMusic : The Huawei brands, Aito, Avatr, Luxeed and Stelato, use Huawei’s ADS. BYD Feng Cheng Bao's SUV is also using.