On-site | When you are talking about ADAS, what are Shenzhen automotive electronics manufacturers doing?

In Hall 1 of the Hong Kong AsiaWorld-Expo, dozens of booths less than ten square meters are filled with a variety of in-vehicle electronic products, including navigation systems, driving recorders, smart rearview mirrors, car computers, and so on.

Most of these exhibitors are from Shenzhen. They do not make Internet of Vehicles products, let alone ADAS solutions, so they hardly need to explain the technical principles. They send out the strongest foreign trade team. As soon as an overseas buyer stops in front of the booth, these staff will quickly come forward and skillfully introduce their products. Their purpose of participating in the exhibition is to get as many orders as possible on site. Even if it is a one-time deal, it can be regarded as exceeding the task.

Of course, most of these manufacturers are not mainstream players in the automotive electronics market. Leifeng.com also observed that their products do not flow directly to car manufacturers, but through the channels of overseas customers to 4S stores or auto repair shops around the world.

APICAL is a manufacturer with a larger booth in the automotive electronics area. Its company size can be considered to be in the upper to mid-range of the industry, with a total of hundreds of employees in its R&D team and production lines, and annual sales of several hundred million RMB (it was revealed that the Mijia dash cam released by Xiaomi not long ago was manufactured by this company).

"We can do both ODM and OEM, and we can also configure the system (WinCE or Android) or change the appearance according to customer needs." The on-site staff introduced to Leiphone.com.

In this industry, being able to master the Android system is a reflection of R&D capabilities, and many manufacturers can only develop products based on the traditional WinCE system. However, the embarrassing thing is that in the aftermarket, the difference in R&D capabilities is minimal.

Leifeng.com learned that although some manufacturers are limited in their R&D capabilities, they can directly purchase products from other manufacturers and sell them overseas indirectly. Companies that adopt this low-profit and high-volume approach (which can be called trading companies) are not uncommon at this exhibition.

"You may see other companies displaying our products, and you may also see other companies' products here." A staff member of a company called Lupai told us. It is understood that this company has only 60 to 70 people, but although it is small, it has everything, including R&D team, production staff, and market.

In their view, as long as they have the goods, they have the capital to negotiate with buyers.

On the other hand, in fact, the threshold of the aftermarket itself is much lower than that of the original equipment market. The strength of R&D capabilities and the size of the company do not seem to be the most important in the eyes of buyers. They are more concerned about whether your delivery cycle is short enough. In this market where speed is everything, if you are slow, you will inevitably miss out on orders.

Apeco staff said that they don't need to consider the map, so the entire delivery cycle is relatively fast. If they use a public mold, they can complete the delivery within one and a half to two months; if they make a new mold, they can deliver the goods to customers in about three months. Compared with the original equipment market, which often requires one or two years of negotiation with car manufacturers, the money in the aftermarket comes faster and easier.

But what is strange is that, apart from rearview mirrors and driving recorders, most exhibitors clearly stated that products such as car computers and navigation systems are only for the foreign market. Why not enter the huge Chinese market?

The person in charge of KLYDE, another car computer manufacturer, explained the reasons to Leiphone.com (official account: Leiphone.com). First, there is only one domestic standard, which is a tough nut to crack for these manufacturers. Another reason is that the domestic transaction model is to ship first and then collect payment, while the transaction model of foreign customers is more popular, with payment and delivery at the same time.

Although this sales model is more efficient, many exhibitors have expressed concerns. They told Leifeng.com that because the market competition is too fierce and the space in the aftermarket is gradually squeezed by the rise of the original equipment market, they have to look for some new product forms. Once there is a new trend, they can capture it instantly and bring it to the market at the fastest speed.

"We will observe the products of our competitors at the exhibition, and if there are good ideas we can imitate them." said a staff member of an automotive brand.

But in the long run, pre-installation is a trend in the entire automotive industry, while the space for after-installation in-vehicle entertainment market will become smaller and smaller. When ADAS and car networking become standard features of vehicle manufacturers, the road ahead for these exhibitors will be even more difficult.