The industry leader of future smart cars will still be in the field of vehicle terminals

The birth of the iPhone fifteen years ago illuminated the way forward for the smartphone industry. In the following ten years, Internet technology has developed rapidly, ushering in an Internet era where "everything can be smart". From smartphones to smart wearables, to smart travel and smart homes... the future scenes depicted in science fiction blockbusters have gradually been realized in our real lives with the changes in the Internet. With the development of technology-based car companies represented by Tesla, they have gradually become popular in our lives. The emergence of this trend has also attracted technology giants such as Baidu and Apple to join the game.

The global and Chinese electric passenger car markets are expected to enter a period of accelerated introduction. In 2021, global and domestic sales of new energy vehicles will be 6.39 million and 3.52 million respectively (year-on-year +97% and +158% respectively), with corresponding penetration rates of 7% and 13% respectively. We expect that by 2025, global and Chinese new energy vehicle sales will increase to 22.93 million and 13 million respectively, with corresponding penetration rates of 24% and 38% respectively. As the market segment with the largest share, passenger cars will have global and Chinese new energy passenger car sales of 5.96 million and 3.32 million respectively in 2021, corresponding to market penetration rates of 9.9% and 15.5%. We expect that in 2025, global and Chinese passenger car new energy vehicle sales will increase to 21.94 million and 12.58 million respectively, with corresponding penetration rates of 32% and 42%.

From the perspective of product technology development, the result of automobile intelligence is the realization of more comprehensive functions based on intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit and other fields. These intelligent functions are inseparable from the support of software and hardware, and even more inseparable from the support of electronic and electrical architecture. The electronic and electrical architecture of traditional automobiles is difficult to meet the needs of intelligence. With the trend of increasingly complex automobile functions, especially the emergence and development of smart cockpits, autonomous driving, the Internet of Things, V2X, and smart cities, automobile companies are forced to innovate in electronic and electrical architecture. At this stage, the best carrier of cross-domain centralized architecture is electric vehicles.

In the context of electric intelligence, there are various ways to achieve braking + steering. In the context of electric intelligence, through wire control, the braking and steering functions of the vehicle can be achieved in multiple ways. For example, to achieve the target deceleration, it can be achieved through the driver's active braking, ESC active pressure building, EPB, and motor kinetic energy recovery; to achieve the target steering angle, it can be achieved through the driver's active steering, wire control steering, and ESC braking.

When it comes to car intelligence, the demands of users and the entire market coincide, mainly focusing on the two major directions of "hardware" and "software" to enhance and empower cars. If we regard cars as intelligent devices like mobile phones and computers, then the most important "core" must be the processor it is equipped with. At present, Qualcomm, a US company, provides hardware technical support for intelligent cars. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon automotive-grade chips have been used in some automotive products. The powerful computing power can provide faster, more efficient and more accurate support for the car's intelligent assisted driving, remote control and other functions.

As smart car technology and products mature, vehicle and traffic prices drop; smart device usage scenarios and habits are gradually formed, and demand is gradually rising. In 2021, global smart car sales exceeded one million, approaching the tipping point of popularization. At present, new forces, technology giants, etc. are actively participating in the global automotive intelligence process, while traditional car manufacturers are relatively slow.

The industry leader of smart cars in the future will still be in the field of vehicle terminals. From the historical review of smartphones, we believe that in the era of smart cars, the technical research and development of the whole vehicle, the division of labor and cooperation in the industrial chain, and the business model are all undergoing fundamental changes. The development history and laws of the smartphone era are expected to be replicated in the field of smart cars. We believe that as the next generation of smart terminal products, the future industry leader of smart cars will still be in the field of vehicle terminals. The rapid development of the Internet era has made cars the next important AI platform and sustenance for smart hardware. In the future, we believe that the relationship between cars and people will be redefined, and smart cars will become a part of smart life like smart bracelets, smart phones, smart watches, and smart homes. The "involution" of global automakers and the strong entry of technology giants around the world will bring more variables and highlights to the smart car track, and for global users, this is undoubtedly a good thing worth looking forward to.