In the first half of this year, at the Beijing Auto Show, engineers from foreign car brands flocked to the exhibition halls of domestic smart electric vehicle brands, eager to learn from their expertise in smart vehicle systems.
It’s a cycle coming full circle. Once, China’s auto industry relied heavily on foreign brands for product design, advancing through joint ventures. Now, the scenario has reversed, with foreign brands eagerly seeking partnerships with domestic companies to find success in the era of new energy vehicles.
The world and times are changing. Chinese automakers, particularly the new energy vehicle startups, are leading the way in providing smart, innovative experiences that are now the best showcases of electric vehicle technology.
In this second half of the race towards smart technology, companies and suppliers in the industry are ready to demonstrate their prowess in handling the wave of automotive intelligence. Mobile phone manufacturers, as another output terminal for smart systems, have gained a significant advantage in this technological race through the integration of smartphones and smart cars.
“Seeing the new cars powered by Huawei, Xiaomi, and Xingji Meizu selling like hotcakes shows the advantage of mobile phone manufacturers in the smart tech field,” said industry observers.
Indeed, years of focusing on user experience have given mobile phone manufacturers a wealth of practical experience and a quicker implementation pace in both interaction scenarios and flexible software and hardware solutions.
At a recent communication meeting held by Xingji Meizu, Vice President Peng Fan revealed that their Unbounded Smart Driving Open Platform 2.0 will be launched by the end of this year, providing car companies with a complete set of customization tools to help them select cockpit solutions at lower costs and higher efficiency.
Represented by major phone manufacturers like “Huawei, Xiaomi, and Meizu,” the move into the automotive field has found a comfortable zone.
From Smartphones to Cars, Adapting to the Trend
“When my phone screen projected onto the car screen, I truly felt the excitement Xiaomi brought to car connectivity,” said Zhang Ming (a pseudonym) after his first test drive of the Xiaomi SU7.
As a loyal Xiaomi fan, Zhang Ming uses Xiaomi devices for both personal and household connectivity. The seamless smart connectivity between phone and car became a decisive factor in his choice of the Xiaomi SU7.
In fact, as the only phone manufacturer directly entering car manufacturing, Xiaomi’s technical accumulation in smart terminals provides a strong foundation for smart cockpits and car connectivity, offering new perspectives on smartphone and car integration.
Xiaomi’s Surge OS system has indeed broken down traditional barriers in car-machine interaction, providing a smoother user experience with its “Human-Car-Home” ecosystem advantages.
Xiaomi isn’t the only one; cross-industry ventures by phone manufacturers into the automotive field have become commonplace.
While it’s a trend for main automakers to develop full-stack technology for smart cockpits, phone manufacturers’ application of their deep software and hardware capabilities in car connectivity is a natural progression.
In an interview with “Explorer Travel,” Xingji Meizu’s Vice President Peng Fan stated that they are often asked why they developed Flyme Auto (Meizu’s car system). “As Chairman Li Shufu said, with the development of new communication technologies, the deep integration of the consumer electronics industry and the automotive industry is inevitable.”
Peng Fan sees the automotive industry going through three phases of development: the 1.0 era of mechanization, represented by traditional automakers; the 2.0 era of electrification, led by Tesla and new energy vehicle startups; and the 3.0 era of intelligence and ecosystem, represented by Huawei, Xiaomi, and Xingji Meizu.
The concept of “software-defined vehicles” is increasingly recognized within the industry. The software ecosystem will become a crucial area for car companies to build differentiation. “We will use our experience in consumer electronics to bring higher levels of intelligent interaction and excellent product experiences to the industry.”
As Peng Fan stated, in the era of new energy vehicles, intelligence has become a must-have for consumers. Cars are not just simple transportation tools; they are key links between “people, cars, and homes,” becoming mobile homes.
This demand for connection has made the linkage between smartphones and cars more critical.
Huawei’s Executive Director, Chairman of the Terminal Business Group, and Chairman of the Intelligent Automotive Solutions Business Unit, Richard Yu, stated that in the era of the Internet of Everything, no person or device will be an isolated island.
The involvement of phone manufacturers in the automotive field is an inevitable integration of two industrial ecosystems. With their technical accumulation and market demand for smartphone-car connectivity, Xiaomi, Huawei, and Xingji Meizu leverage their advantages in software and connectivity to enhance the end-to-end experience.
In addition to Xiaomi’s Surge OS system, Huawei’s HarmonyOS system, and Xingji Meizu’s Unbounded AIOS, OPPO has launched the Carlink system, and vivo has introduced the Jovi InCar system, providing more integrated car connectivity experiences to the market.
Building Open Platforms to Empower Automakers
As the linkage between smartphones and car terminals becomes tighter, phone manufacturers are diversifying their smart cockpit solutions, gaining the initiative to empower automakers.
A typical example is Huawei. With the expansion of Huawei’s car manufacturing circle, the Huawei ecosystem has become a “golden brand” for empowering car companies.
Despite not making cars, Huawei has remained active in the automotive supply chain. Beyond being a traditional parts supplier, Huawei has become a key enabler for car companies, providing varying degrees of empowerment through its HI model and HarmonyOS-powered vehicles.
Especially through the HarmonyOS model, Huawei deeply participates in product design, marketing, and terminal sales, offering comprehensive smart car solutions to car companies. Currently, the HarmonyOS model has partnered with Seres, Chery, JAC, and BAIC.
Latest data shows that in the first half of this year, the HarmonyOS model delivered 194,200 new cars, ranking first in sales among new energy startups in the Chinese market. These sales figures validate the strength and ambition of phone manufacturers like Huawei.
Xingji Meizu also shares this ambition.
In 2021, Xingji Meizu accurately entered the smart mobility track and quickly implemented the Flyme Auto smart cockpit operating system, leveraging years of self-developed operating system experience.
By the end of 2023, Xingji Meizu launched a new smart cockpit solution—the Unbounded Smart Driving Open Platform—through modular development of core capabilities.
Peng Fan explained that the Unbounded Smart Driving Open Platform modularly opens the core capabilities of the smart cockpit, allowing car companies to flexibly choose software and hardware solutions for customized, quick integration and stable delivery. It is attracting an increasing number of ecosystem partners.
Peng Fan told “Explorer Travel” that among the three phone manufacturers’ connectivity solutions, Huawei excels in ecosystem integration, Xiaomi is strong in “Human-Car-Home,” and Xingji Meizu specializes in cross-end solutions for capability and data integration.
Focusing on the car is Xingji Meizu’s approach to solution development.
The Unbounded Smart Driving Open Platform, similar to Huawei’s model, currently offers three cooperation modes. The first is the full Flyme Auto package, similar to the full package solutions for Lynk & Co 08 EM-P and Lynk & Co 07 EM-P. The second is the Flyme Auto Inside mode, similar to the Polestar OS on Polestar 4 models. The third cooperation mode is the Flyme Link mode, similar to the Geely Galaxy E8.
“In the future, Flyme Auto will offer comprehensive solutions on different computing platforms, empowering our brands. Xingji Meizu will uphold the philosophy of open and win-win, building a smart mobility technology ecosystem to provide consumers with multi-terminal, full-scene immersive experiences,” Peng Fan said.
Open Ecosystem, Deep Integration
Indeed, as consumers increasingly value intelligence, the competition for the smart cockpit market has intensified.
Beyond the seamless integration by phone manufacturers, automakers and external suppliers are also fiercely competing in the smart cockpit market.
Though established independent brands have slower deployment progress, they consistently adhere to the self-research route, while new energy vehicle startups have prioritized smart cockpits from the outset. It can be said that building smart cockpits has become a consensus across the industry.
While the entire smart mobility ecosystem hasn’t undergone disruptive changes yet, both vehicle manufacturers and software suppliers are innovating algorithms and applying new technologies to drive qualitative changes through quantitative improvements.
“The future is bound to be open,” said Peng Fan, discussing future trends.
Peng Fan believes that amid the intense competition in the new energy vehicle industry, smart cockpits are also competing in experience and scenarios. Therefore, the next generation of products will not only see improvements in system frameworks but also the reconstruction and integration of AI scenarios.
“We plan to open each generation of Flyme Auto to partners, allowing them to utilize it on different hardware platforms and configurations so that users of various brands can experience the smoothness akin to smartphones.”
The rapid development of generative AI is driving the realization of open ecosystems. Peng Fan believes that AI will profoundly change the traditional consumer electronics and automotive industries, initiating a new cycle of transformation.
Earlier this year, Xingji Meizu announced its All in AI strategy. In May, Xingji Meizu launched the new Flyme AIOS system, starting internal testing.
Huawei also mentioned in its intelligent automotive solutions this year that the new generation of HarmonyOS cockpit will feature the Qianwu Engine large model, based on core technologies such as Huawei Cloud Pangu large model, MindSpore Ascend AI computing framework, and Ascend AI foundational hardware platform, combined with HarmonyOS Vision and Xiaoyi voice capabilities to provide users with deeply personalized services.
In the era of smart cars, one of the most noticeable changes in the cockpit is the reduction of buttons and the increase in screen interactions. As cars become new smart interaction terminals, their connectivity with smartphones and other smart devices requires phone manufacturers to leverage their strengths from both smartphone and car ends to achieve multi-device, multi-terminal integration.
With AI, the full potential of phone manufacturers’ advantages is yet to be realized. As technology integration improves, the strengths of “Huawei, Xiaomi, and Meizu” in devices and ecosystems will further transform into core competencies in the overall smart competition.
Credit: Wei Shuai
