Huawei has great ambitions in the automotive industry, covering both Internet of Vehicles and in-vehicle computing platforms

Recently, Jiang Wangcheng, president of Huawei's Internet of Things Solutions, mentioned for the first time at an industry forum that the company will provide in-vehicle computing platforms required for autonomous driving in the future. After the news came out, it attracted close attention from the industry.

From the initial Internet of Vehicles to today's in-vehicle computing platform, how big is Huawei's ambition for the automotive industry as a leader in the communications industry?

In 2013, Huawei established the "Internet of Vehicles Business Department" and announced its official entry into this emerging field.

In the same year, Huawei officially released communication module products such as ME909T that meet automotive standards, as well as pre-installed vehicle-mounted mobile hotspots, and automotive online diagnostic systems. At that time, Huawei said that it would invest hundreds of millions of yuan each year in the research and development of technologies related to the Internet of Vehicles.

In September 2016, Huawei, four communications companies (Ericsson, Intel, Nokia, and Qualcomm) and three automobile companies (Audi, BMW, and Daimler) jointly launched a global cross-industry industry alliance, the 5G Automotive Association, which is committed to developing, testing, and promoting communication solutions and applications required for the Internet of Everything, including smart car networking, smart transportation, etc., including related standardization promotion, business opportunity exploration, and global market expansion.

In recent years, news about Huawei's cooperation with Dongfeng, SAIC, Volkswagen, PSA, Toyota, Continental, Audi and other companies has appeared in the newspapers one after another, and its actions in the field of Internet of Vehicles have been very frequent.

Recently, Huawei released the OceanConnect Internet of Vehicles platform at the 2018 International Consumer Electronics Information and Communications Expo. Earlier, at the 2018 Mobile World Congress (MWC), Huawei exhibited the C-V2X vehicle terminal.

According to Jiang Wangcheng, Huawei has already cooperated with some car companies on the in-vehicle computing platform for demand docking and iterative development. The platform includes three types of chips with different functions: visual processing chips, AI chips and central computing chips. In addition to the underlying hardware, Huawei will also provide in-vehicle OS, AI algorithm library, perception algorithm and cloud technology support. Huawei's architecture will support the smooth evolution of autonomous driving L3~L5.

The problem Huawei is currently facing is that its sales are increasing, but its profit margin is going down, so it must actively look for new growth points. The traditional automotive industry has a weak foundation and weak capabilities in terms of intelligence and networking, which gives more opportunities to software suppliers such as IT and communications companies. Therefore, it is not surprising that Huawei has made some layout and expansion in the automotive field.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.