NXP: 90% of Innovation in the Automotive Industry Takes Place in Electronic Information

The automotive industry is ushering in a new round of changes embracing autopilot and smart interconnect technologies. On the one hand, players outside the circle have entered the cross-border automobile industry; on the other hand, the traditional automobile industry chain has also been upgraded technologically.

“Intelligent Connected Vehicle” is the current juncture. On April 10th, Zheng Li, Global Senior Vice President and President of Greater China of NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ.NXPI) stated that 90% of innovations in the development of the automotive industry come from electronic information. Industry, especially from integrated circuits.

“Intelligent Connected Vehicle” is the current juncture. On April 10th, Zheng Li, Global Senior Vice President and President of Greater China of NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ.NXPI) stated that 90% of innovations in the development of the automotive industry come from electronic information. Industry, especially from integrated circuits.

The automotive industry is ushering in revolutionary changes in automated driving and smart interconnect technologies. On the one hand, players outside the circle have entered the cross-border automobile industry. On the other hand, the traditional automobile industry chain has been upgrading technology. Zheng Li introduced that all major car manufacturers in the world are struggling to obtain "the key 3 seconds before the collision."

The so-called "critical 3 seconds" means that in the event of a vehicle accident, if equipped with V2X technology - vehicle and vehicle, vehicle and traffic facilities, the driver can receive a strong signal at least 3 seconds before React. V2X is not limited to the integration of onboard sensors, controllers and networks, but also data exchange between people and vehicles, vehicles and roads, vehicles and the surrounding environment.

Zheng Li believes that the development of car networking technology can effectively expand the function of ADAS (advanced driver assistance system), can help drivers to drive beyond the line of sight, and the direct communication between cars and cars can also not rely on the operator's network, and the car can be reliably driven. Sex can also be improved.

At present, the industry chain of the vehicle networking industry is divided into three parts: terminal, pipe, and cloud. It corresponds to the entire vehicle and parts, communication and service sectors. It involves vehicle manufacturers, automotive electronic system suppliers, component suppliers, and software. Providers, device providers, communication service providers, data and content providers and a series of subjects.

According to Tang Libo, deputy director of the Institute of Technology and Standards, China Institute of Information and Communications, car networking services are still in the initial stage. At present, the automotive networking technology is based on 2G and 3G. 4G has just started and V2X is not yet commercially available. The user community is too fragmented.

He quoted a set of data: As of April 2016, the number of connected cars in China was 22 million, which was calculated on the basis of 290 million vehicle ownership and the networking rate was less than 8%.

At present, the speed of development of the car network in the world is not the same. The layout of mainstream car manufacturers in Europe and America is active. General Motors has begun mass production of vehicles equipped with car networking modules. Daimler, BMW, and Ford follow in succession; Microsoft licenses car networking patent technology to Toyota; domestic Car companies have sunk their own car networking plans. In March this year, SAIC Motor proposed that it will launch a car networking system that can autonomously learn the habits of its drivers this year and plans to launch V2X by 2020.

However, people in the automotive industry have analyzed the Caixin reporter and the investment in car networking security solutions has not yet translated into selling points to obtain corresponding benefits. Because of the pricing problem, domestic cars will face the problem of high cost recovery costs. It is very difficult for local car companies to actively invest in such costs that cannot be recovered from owners. In this regard, international car manufacturers are quickly deployed.

Liu Fang, head of NXP’s Greater China Automotive Electronics Business Development Group, suggested that Chinese local auto companies take the safety of vehicle networking into consideration. Vehicle access to third-party service providers, mobile Internet applications, cloud services, and 5G usage must all guarantee security. "This should be considered part of the overall cost, and this cost will bring value." She said.

Thomas Roder, director of marketing for automotive security access control products at NXP Semiconductors Austria, also said that Chinese auto companies need not only to use existing IoT technologies, but also to reserve technologies and standards for the next 10 years.

The US Department of Transportation issued an announcement (NPRM) for the Vehicle Interconnection Advice Rules at the end of 2016. It is intended that in 2023, all light vehicles in the United States will be equipped with DSRC V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) technology. In China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is strengthening top-level design and researching the car networking and intelligent network-linked automobile standardization system. SAIC General Motors' parent company, SAIC, and General Motors have all participated in the development of the standard. According to Wang Yongqing, general manager of SAIC General Motors, it was difficult to introduce it in the short term because it involved communications and infrastructure.

According to Tang Libo, the automobile communication gateway is the core entrance of the joint network, and will soon release the national standard.

Liu Fang continued that the topic of automobile safety is a localized discussion. Different programs in different regions adopt different solutions to problems based on different needs, scenarios, hardware, and basic capabilities of manufacturers and national regulations. “We once discussed whether or not to bring a foreign security program into the country for use, but this requires a question mark, so we have strengthened cooperation and communication with domestic vehicle manufacturers.”

On April 10, NXP and the China Institute of Information and Communications signed the Intelligent Network Alliance Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement. Both parties intend to cooperate in strategic research, technology research and development, and standard setting.

NXP Semiconductors is a typical example of accelerated mergers and acquisitions in the semiconductor industry in recent years. Formerly known as Philips Semiconductors, the company spent $ 11.8 billion in acquisition of Freescale in 2015, access to complete automotive semiconductor solutions technology, becoming the world's largest automotive semiconductor supplier; then by the end of 2016 by the chip maker Qualcomm ( The NASDAQ:QCOM acquisition was priced at 47 billion U.S. dollars. In April this year, the acquisition plan was approved by the U.S. antitrust regulatory agency.

The aforementioned largest acquisition of the global semiconductor industry is betting on the future industry prospects of the Internet of Vehicles market. According to the analysis of Statista, a German statistical company, the market for car networking will reach US$33.82 billion (about 220 billion yuan) in 2020.