Tesla is reported to have sealed a multibillion-dollar deal with Samsung to acquire additional cameras for its self-driving sensor package. Tesla's Full Self-Driving (FSD) software will particularly feed its neural nets with imagery from cameras.
New Cameras for Tesla Vehicles
The manufacturer does not use radar or lidar, unlike most other self-driving initiatives. However, Tesla has recently filed a request with the FCC to employ a new radar.
The Samsung Group's component supply is a significant business for the company. Even though Samsung has decided not to produce its own electric vehicles, it does supply vital components to the EV sector, such as batteries and camera modules.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics is Samsung Group's subsidiary that specializes in manufacturing electrical components such as chip parts of MLCCs, camera modules, printed circuit boards, semiconductor substrates, network modules, and many more. Hence, it will be on top of the new camera modules that will supply Tesla's vehicles.
As automobile makers aim for greater levels of autonomous driving, camera modules have become essential. Tesla is leading the push with its automobiles because camera modules are needed for the company's electric Cybertruck and Semi vehicles.
Other vehicles that will have the latest camera modules include Tesla's Model 3 sedan, Model Y crossover, Model X SUV, and Model S sedan.
The upcoming camera module will feature Samsung's 4.0 camera with 5 million pixels. This new camera has been upgraded since the 4.0 version has five times the clarity of the preceding 3.0 edition.
But more importantly, it will serve as a huge upgrade over the cameras that are currently being used by Tesla's sensor suite, which only features a resolution of about 1.2 megapixels.
Samsung's Second Deal
Samsung Electro-Mechanics also sells camera modules for cellphones, but the items for electric vehicles are much more valuable, allowing the company to increase its revenues. In a Tesla EV, there are eight camera modules. Thus Samsung benefits from these economies of scale.
The camera modules will be delivered to Tesla's Gigafactories in Berlin, Germany, and Shanghai, China. Apart from Samsung, LG is another key supplier of Tesla vehicle parts.
Prior to this new deal, the company secured a contract for camera modules for Tesla's electric trucks worth KRW490 billion or about $389 million last year. Hence, this is the second time that the tech giant has secured a deal with the automaker.
To ensure that it has enough products to deliver and avoid prospective supply issues, the Korean-based company will begin mass-producing the component as early as July of this year.
Meanwhile, this deal is said to be Samsung Electro-Mechanics' largest single contract ever, making the tech company Tesla's largest supplier of camera modules to date.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla
