Chinese Companies Dominate LiDAR Patents and Market Share Worldwide
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China is dominating over half of the world’s patent applications and market share related to LiDAR, a key component of autonomous vehicles, according to a report by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 8th.
Nikkei reported that as the competition for electric vehicle (EV) development intensifies in China, companies are differentiating by advancing driving assistance technology using LiDAR. Meanwhile, the movements of American, European, and Japanese companies are slow, with some, like Germany’s Bosch, beginning to halt development.
LiDAR is a key component for achieving full autonomy, as it advances the mainstream technology of using cameras and radio wave radars to measure the distance between vehicles by emitting laser light to measure the distance to surrounding objects precisely.
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According to the Japanese patent research company Patent Result, Chinese companies have filed 25,957 patents for LiDAR since 2000. This surpasses the 18,821 applications from the United States in second place and the 13,939 from Japan in third place. Germany is in fourth place.
Among the companies, Germany’s Bosch is in first place, with Japan’s Denso and Sony in second and third place, respectively. However, China’s RoboSense and Hesai Technology have rapidly increased their applications since 2015, ranking fourth and fifth, respectively. Samsung Electronics ranks sixth.
Notably, these Chinese companies outperform Bosch and Denso in business performance. According to the French market research company Yole, Hesai’s market share in the vehicle LiDAR market in 2022 is 47%, making it the world’s number one.
LiDAR is divided into two main types: for full autonomy and for driving assistance. According to Nikkei, Hesai is particularly strong in the high-priced full-autonomy sector, supplying GM Cruise under General Motors (GM) and China’s Baidu.
RoboSense is making strides in the driving assistance LiDAR sector, characterized by using Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology for lower prices. It has increased its sales volume by delivering 57,000 LiDARs in 2022, and China’s Geely Auto and Xiaopeng Motors have decided to equip their electric vehicles with it.
Nikkei analyzed that Chinese companies’ advancement of LiDAR technology is due to the fierce competition for electric vehicles in China, with each company strengthening its driving assistance technology for differentiation.
Xiaopeng Motors has launched an electric vehicle equipped with two of RoboSense’s LiDARs, enhancing driving assistance functions on highways and general roads. According to Yole, more than 100 models equipped with LiDAR will be launched in the Chinese market from 2023 to 2025.
On the other hand, Nikkei pointed out that car manufacturers in the U.S., Europe, and Japan are focusing on developing electric vehicles, neglecting autonomous vehicle development, and the number of electric vehicles equipped with LiDAR will be limited to a few models after 2023.
In 2021, Honda of Japan produced the world’s first sedan, Legend, equipped with LiDAR, which allows Level 3 autonomous driving under certain conditions. Still, production was discontinued due to a lack of consumer support for cost-effectiveness. Meanwhile, Toyota and Germany’s Mercedes-Benz are equipping LiDAR only in luxury cars.
As a result, LiDAR companies in the U.S., Europe, and Japan are facing difficulties. Bosch recently decided to focus on developing other sensors with high demand, such as radio wave radars used in Level 2 autonomous driving that requires constant monitoring of the driver, after halting LiDAR development, according to Nikkei.
Japan’s Pioneer Corporation withdrew from the LiDAR business in 2022, and an investment group acquired Quanergy Systems of the U.S. after filing for bankruptcy.
Nikkei predicted that the same could happen with LiDAR as China, the leading producer of electric vehicles, has taken over the critical technology of secondary batteries.
By. Man Joo Ha
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