During my recent test drives, I observed an interesting phenomenon: for models not equipped with LiDAR, salespeople usually emphasize the advantages of the "pure vision" solution, claiming that its intelligent driving effect is similar to that of LiDAR-equipped models, and that it may become mainstream in the future. For models equipped with LiDAR, salespeople emphasize its superiority in safety, such as a longer viewing distance and the ability to accurately sense the distance to improve driving safety.
In fact, the use of LiDAR in the passenger car field has continued to increase this year. Data shows that the sales of Sprint Polytron's in-vehicle LiDAR exceeded 130,000 units in the third quarter, a year-on-year increase of 1,47%; and WoSai's global deliveries of ADAS LiDAR products exceeded 80,000 units in the second quarter, a year-on-year increase of 76.8%. Therefore, although some cost-effective models may shift to a purely vision-based solution, the use of LiDAR in mid-range and high-end models still has a prospect for growth,... and will become a mainstream configuration in the coming period.
LIDAR Receiver Technology ComparisonIn the LIDAR receiver side, the commonly used technologies in the market today include APD (Avalanche Photodiode), SPAD (Single Photon Avalanche Diode), and SIPM (Silicon Photomultiplier Mode). For example, Tudatron's FALCON LIDAR uses APDs, while Sutton Polytron's M1 LIDAR uses Hamamatsu's SIPMs.
APD: By applying a reverse voltage to the photodiode, a small number of photons can trigger avalanche breakdown, which is suitable for high sensitivity photon detection.
SPAD: Higher sensitivity compared to APD, only one photon is needed to trigger avalanche breakdown, suitable for single-photon detection.
SIPM: Similar to SPAD, it consists of multiple photoreceptor units that achieve high dynamic resolution by detecting photon intensity.
APDs are typically used in 1550 NM lidars, while SIPM/SPADs are mostly found in TOF lidars using 905 NM sources.
Market Trends and Self-Research Strategies Currently, the market for LIDAR receiver side is almost monopolized by Sony and Hamamatsu. Sony's IMX459 SPAD sensor has been adopted by a number of manufacturers, including Huawei, while Hamamatsu's SIPM products are widely used by many leading LiDAR brands.
However, with the rapid rise of domestic vendors such as WoSai and Sutem Polytron, they are pushing for self-developed SPAD technology to reduce costs and improve product integration. For example, the FT120 released by Woosai and the E1 from Sutem have adopted self-developed SPAD arrays and SOC integration solutions, a technology that can improve product competitiveness.
Not only that, there are domestic enterprises such as Lingming Photonics, CoreVision, Fushi Technology, Sense Light Core Technology and other companies are actively developing SPAD/SIPM related chips to promote the localization of the technology and the development of independent. This means that in the automotive LiDAR market, the proportion of self-developed technology is expected to further increase.
