China's ADAS LiDAR Installations Surged 74% in September, Jefferies Reports

Installations of LiDAR units for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) in China reached 562,000 in September, a 74% increase from the same month last year. The figure, reported by Jefferies' Smart Component Tracker, also represents an 11% rise from August, signaling accelerating adoption of the sensor technology in the world's largest auto market.

Hesai Reclaims Top Spot

The competitive landscape among LiDAR suppliers saw a shift in September, with Hesai regaining its leading market position. The company's installations grew 18% month-over-month to 202,000 units, capturing 35.9% of the market. This growth was partly driven by a 49% monthly increase in installations for Xiaomi vehicles.

Huawei's market share fell 3.7 percentage points from August to 31.9%. Other major suppliers included RoboSense, which held 14.8% market share with 83,000 units shipped, and Seyond, which accounted for 12% of the market.

Vehicle Penetration Deepens

The data highlights a significant trend of LiDAR becoming a more standard feature, particularly in new energy vehicles (NEVs). The overall penetration rate for LiDAR in passenger vehicles reached 22.3% in September, an increase of 11 percentage points from a year prior. For NEVs specifically, the penetration rate stood at 33.7%, up 15 percentage points year-over-year.

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Among automakers, installation figures varied:

• AITO: Installations rose 6% month-over-month to 89,000 units.
• NIO: Installations grew 6% to 60,000 units.
• Zeekr: Saw a significant 28% increase to 50,000 units.
• Li Auto: Experienced a 4% decrease to 44,000 units.
• Luxeed: Fell 45% to 20,000 units.

Year-to-Date Growth Exceeds 100%

For the first nine months of the year, total LiDAR installations in China grew 105% year-over-year to 3.85 million units. Over this period, Hesai captured a 35% market share, closely followed by Huawei at 33%. Seyond and RoboSense held 14% and 13% of the market, respectively.

In a related but contrasting development, installations of ADAS system-on-chips (SoCs) fell 23% year-over-year in September to 1.34 million units. In the low-compute segment of the SoC market, Mobileye led with a 38.7% share, followed by Horizon at 20.7%.