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In January of this year, Huawei signed up with Dutch satellite navigation provider TomTom to provide it with mapping software for its range of smartphones as an alternative to Google Maps and associated navigation services. We wondered out loud if Huawei was preparing to make Google’s big Android leap.
Subsequent signals that followed have only been slightly contradicted by Huawei’s “P30 Pro New Edition” phone with Google apps loaded. That phone is essentially a revamp of an existing system licensed for the Google system and was released yesterday in Germany, but this is not a course correction by Huawei. Make no mistake, Huawei plans to escape the clutches of Google software eventually, but if you can sell a lot of phones by having Google apps on them for now, it will.
There is no doubt that Huawei has its sights set on what many consider a jackpot. The smart car market. The deal with TomTom (see – Huawei moves away from Google services) was just one of a series of moves and shakes that put Huawei in the position of privilege in smart car systems. Automobiles, or rather their integrated intelligence, are now Huawei’s big target with its HiCar system, according to reports, with up to 30 manufacturers already registered to include HiCar in 120 upcoming models.
Unlike its high-tech competitors like Tesla, Apple, and, of course, Google, Huawei doesn’t seek to make electric cars with the added advanced technology through exclusive partner relationships. You are taking the old Microsoft MS DOS route with the goal of providing a complete operating system for the car and offering it to all car manufacturers and probably staying out of car manufacturing entirely so that you don’t end up competing with your own customers in a market where you have no experience.
The prize is huge
A decade ago it was announced that the cost of electronics necessarily included in the modern car had exceeded the value of the rest of the car. That proportion may only have grown as buyers, and therefore, as manufacturers, they seek to include even more digital features and extol those that are already in place.
Today, the variety of digital devices that can be worn in the modern tent are impressive and deserve to be detailed.
There are: multimedia systems; hazard warning and navigation systems, auto maintenance, diagnostics, and connected insurance systems; not to mention engine management and of course driverless functionality. For Huawei, the autonomous driving functionality, still in development, can be vastly enhanced by Huawei’s experience and the considerable investment in artificial intelligence that can be located in the cloud and direct or improve the autonomy of the car.
These functions and features begin to multiply when the information from the device and the sensor are cross-referenced to show new ideas. APIs can link camera data to steering and suspension data (for example) and even to the cloud to detect possible driver fatigue or mechanical safety issues. Huawei has been busy bringing together all the existing expertise and technologies it will need to offer automakers a system capable of integrating all of these capabilities.
In addition to its TomTom deal, last year it formed a new business unit to explore smart automotive solutions. It has announced collaborations with Audi and Toyota and has developed its own driverless technology chips.
Huawei appears to have returned to its telecom technology playbook, where it accelerated its technology patent activities and group standards activities to rise to the position of leading provider. Perhaps trying to emulate that success, it is already among the leading companies in research and “driving” standards, having filed 66 patents (21%) of the total of 314 automotive patents as of October last year, according to the Nikkei Asian Review. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/Huawei-steps-up-ambitions-in-self-driving-vehicles-race2
Business model perspectives
Even the big automakers can’t afford to reinvent the digital wheel for their vehicles, so the idea of a comprehensive system available to all automakers seems like a viable approach.
Clearly, the car is set to become the next big mobile device, and Huawei, this time, is in the right country to take a key position. After all, China has long graduated from being the land of bicycles. It became the world’s largest car market in 2009 and has increased its leadership since then. Meanwhile, prospects for the auto “market” appear to have strengthened in recent years. Where the car was once the transport pariah due to climate change and city pollution, the development of the electric car has transformed its image. Now it appears to be a way out of catastrophic climate change, rather than a safe way to do it.
And then comes Covid-19 and the realization that being hermetically sealed in an electrically powered case, perhaps autonomously, to get to and from work might not be a bad idea after all.
