Mobileye abandons development of next-generation first-party FMCW lidar and lays off related departments

On September 10, Mobileye, an Intel-controlled autonomous driving company, announced yesterday that it would abandon the internal development of the next-generation Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) lidar for autonomous driving systems.

Mobileye said it had terminated development of its next-generation FMCW lidar because the device had become less important to its Eyes-off autonomous driving system. This was a result of the significant improvement in the computer vision perception capabilities of the EyeQ6 system, the improvement in the clarity of its internal imaging radar, and the greater-than-expected cost reduction of third-party ToF lidar.

Mobileye claims that this plan adjustment will not affect any customer product plans or product development, and the company will continue to focus on developing first-party imaging radar. Imaging radar is the strategic focus of Mobileye. Its B sample has met product specifications and is expected to start production next year, which will bring better cost-effectiveness and scalability to the Liberation Eyes System.

Mobileye will therefore also close its lidar R&D department by the end of 2024, which will affect approximately 100 employees. The department's operating expenses this year will total approximately US$60 million (Note: currently approximately RMB 427 million).

Mobileye has suffered losses for two consecutive years. Its stock price has fallen by more than 73% since 2024, and its market value has fallen to US$9.04 billion. At this time, abandoning the development of first-party frequency-modulated continuous-wave lidar can reduce operating costs to a certain extent.