In the past two years, autonomous driving has developed rapidly, and a large number of autonomous driving technologies have repeatedly impacted people's inherent understanding of the automotive field. In July this year, Baidu released a white paper entitled "Autonomous Driving Safety First" in collaboration with BMW, Audi, Continental, Daimler, Fiat Chrysler Automobile Group (FCA), Aptiv, HERE, Infineon, Intel and Volkswagen. The white paper states that the market value of the global autonomous driving market will reach $ 173.15 billion by 2023. By 2025, the number of driverless cars on the road will increase to 8 million. By 2030, the number of autonomous vehicles on the road in the United States will reach nearly 20 million, and the autonomous driving market can be expected in the future.
With the perfect combination of "Internet +" and mobile terminals, the Internet of Vehicles has been widely used in the automotive industry, not only making intelligent transportation a reality, but also making autonomous driving possible. At the same time, autonomous driving is also the main direction of the current development of intelligent and connected vehicles in the global automotive and transportation field. Its unique advantages will have important value in future transportation. First, it can improve driving safety and effectively reduce accidents. At the same time, alleviate traffic congestion and optimize traffic flow with the traffic system. Secondly, it can reduce driving intensity and improve comfort. Third, autonomous driving can increase car sharing and reduce air pollution. Finally, autonomous driving can also reduce the requirements on drivers, adapt to a variety of populations, and facilitate the disabled. At the same time, meeting the specific transportation needs of low-income people will help the low-income class to move upwards and create new opportunities for them.
In 2019, the demand for mass production and commercialization of the autonomous driving industry is becoming increasingly urgent, which will become a "critical year" for the autonomous driving industry. Although there is still a long time before the large-scale landing of L4 or L5 autonomous driving, the market size of millimeter-wave radar, which is a key component of autonomous driving, has grown rapidly. Some research institutions predict that by 2022, the global automotive millimeter-wave radar market will total approximately 16 billion U.S. dollars.
Millimeter-wave radar market structure: dominated by foreign companies, but the tide of localization is surging
Some auto parts companies with strong comprehensive strength at home and abroad carry out multi-product layout on self-driving car sensors, which can provide comprehensive automated driving solutions for downstream customers and form strong competitiveness. Overseas giants dominate the development of the global millimeter-wave radar industry, and domestic manufacturers have achieved breakthroughs in some core technologies.
At present, the global millimeter-wave radar market is dominated by Bosch, Continental, Valeo, Haila, Delphi, Autoliv, Fujitsu and other manufacturers, of which Valeo, Haila and Bosch occupy more than 60% of China's 24 GHz radar market Continental ’s, Bosch and Delphi account for more than 80% of China ’s 77 GHz radar market. (Data source: "2016-2022 China Millimeter Wave Radar Industry Market Supply and Demand Forecast and Investment Strategy Research Report" At the same time, China's passenger car millimeter wave radar market has accelerated from 2017, and the domestic millimeter wave radar technology industry Innovation is accelerating. Some domestic companies such as Senstech have achieved mass production of 24GHz and 77 GHz millimeter wave radars. Data show that the domestic passenger car millimeter-wave radar shipments for 2017 were close to 2.32 million, a year-on-year increase of 104.6%. The actual shipment volume of passenger car millimeter wave radars reached 3.58 million units in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 54%. (Data source: 2018-2019 ADAS and autonomous driving industry chain report)
Prospects are expected Autonomous driving China may gain an advantage in the future
McKinsey's 2018 research report shows that China is likely to become the world's largest self-driving market in the future. By 2030, new car sales and travel services related to autonomous driving will generate more than $ 500 billion in revenue. From a vehicle perspective, there will be about 8 million self-driving passenger cars in China.
In recent years, many Chinese companies have continuously increased their R & D efforts. In the segmented field of millimeter-wave radar, which has the broadest industrial development prospects, the in-vehicle radar has been the main application direction and has made certain breakthroughs. The market size and shipment growth rate of China's automotive millimeter-wave radar industry have maintained rapid growth. The driving factors include the following: First, the policy is strongly supported. The government has given industrial policy support and financial support in terms of policies. It has increased the enthusiasm of domestic enterprises to invest in the automotive radar industry through the establishment of major special research topics and financial preferential policies, which has led to industrial development. Secondly, automotive safety regulations and rating regulations have helped ADAS develop and penetrate rapidly, driving strong demand for vehicle-mounted millimeter-wave radars and stimulating sales growth of vehicle-mounted millimeter-wave radars. Third, more and more companies and suppliers are investing in automotive radar system development, device development, and algorithm research. The cost reduction of millimeter wave semiconductor devices, the maturity of control technology and signal processing technology, the large-scale commercialization of small size, high-performance millimeter wave radar becomes increasingly possible.
In fact, the key technologies of autonomous driving, including sensors, automatic analysis, and map technology, have been broken by many companies at home and abroad. In some aspects, Chinese technology companies can be said to have gone hand in hand with advanced foreign companies and even achieved a leading position. Among them, the domestic Wuhu Senstech Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. achieved outstanding results. Senstech is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the research, development, production and sales of intelligent sensor application products based on millimeter wave radar technology. Has developed a series of high-performance radar products, mainly for vehicle safety and autonomous driving, intelligent transportation and smart parking, security monitoring and other fields. The product covers all frequency bands of 24GHz, 77GHz, and 79GHz, and integrates state-of-the-art radar technologies such as phased array, DBF, MIMO, sparse array, and super-resolution.
In the field of domestic millimeter wave radar, Senstech is not the only one. With the help of the trend of autonomous driving, a number of domestic millimeter-wave radar companies have sprung up, and they have been doing research and development for several years in an attempt to challenge the foreign giants who master the millimeter-wave radar market from different angles. So, what is the advantage of Senstech?
First, the R & D team is top in the country. Senstech has a radar high-level scientific research team, the core members of which are master's and doctoral degrees, and have industry backgrounds such as aerospace institutes / China Electronics Research Institute. The heads of antenna, hardware and software technology development are all doctoral staff with more than ten years of professional experience.
Second, strong R & D capabilities and full technical chain coverage. Senstech's product line is rich. In the field of automotive radar, it covers multiple products in three bands of 24GHz, 77GHz, and 79GHz. At the same time, it is also developing the leading-edge 79GHz 4D imaging radar in this field, as well as millimeter wave radar and vision fusion products. Senstech radar technology is independently developed, including key steps such as radar design, signal processing, and back-end identification algorithms. At present, it has applied for more than 60 patents and registered more than 40 software copyrights.
Third, it achieves independent mass production and has a wide range of product applications. Senstech's 24GHz millimeter wave radar has achieved mass production and supply. With the launch of FAW Hongqi HS5 in May this year, the company has become the first domestic ADAS millimeter wave radar sensor to truly achieve "on the road". Senstech has also become the first company in China to achieve the mass production of 77GHz automotive millimeter wave radar and break the monopoly of international giants. And in product performance, Senstech radar products can be compared with the products of international Tier1 giants.
Millimeter-wave radar is like the "eyes" of a car, and it can be said to be the "goalkeeper" for autonomous driving safety. As the core sensor in the field of autonomous driving, millimeter wave radar has become an important development area targeted by the Chinese technology industry. A large number of Chinese millimeter-wave radar companies are working to increase R & D efforts, seize opportunities, cut into the supply chain of first-line car companies, and promote the development of China's autonomous driving trend.