German automaker BMW will use Qualcomm chips in its next-generation driver assistance and autonomous driving systems, Qualcomm said on Tuesday.
SAN Diego-based Qualcomm is the world's largest supplier of chips for mobile phones but has been diversifying, with more than a third of its chip sales coming from sources other than handset makers.
In a presentation to investors ahead of the BMW announcement, Qualcomm detailed how it is working with companies like Meta Platform on VR hardware and Microsoft on Windows laptops that use Qualcomm chips.
SAN Diego-based Qualcomm is the world's largest supplier of chips for mobile phones but has been diversifying, with more than a third of its chip sales coming from sources other than handset makers.
In a presentation to investors ahead of the BMW announcement, Qualcomm detailed how it is working with companies like Meta Platform on VR hardware and Microsoft on Windows laptops that use Qualcomm chips.
Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm's chief executive, said he believes the potential market for his company's technology is now $700 billion, seven times the size of the mobile phone chip industry.
"For Qualcomm, we've never had as many end-market opportunities as we have today," Amon said.
A BMW spokesman said the new chips would be used in the "Neue Klasse" range of cars due to go into production in 2025. Automotive chips are a key growth area for Qualcomm, which supplies dashboard chips for infotainment systems to companies such as General Motors Co.
The company has also been trying to compete with chip industry rival Nvidia Corp.
And Intel Corp. Launch a challenge to supply chips for driver-assistance computers such as automated lane-keeping and, eventually, autonomous driving systems.
Qualcomm and BMW will use dedicated Qualcomm computer vision processing chips to analyze data from front and rear cameras and surround cameras. BMW will also use Qualcomm's central computing chips and another set of Qualcomm chips to help cars communicate with cloud computing data centers.
BMW said the existing partnership between BMW and Intel's Mobileye autonomous driving technology unit would continue, although plans to launch a self-driving car in 2021 have yet to materialize.
A full-size 7-Series sedan with Intel Level 3 self-driving technology, which allows the car to drive itself under limited conditions but still requires a driver, will be released next year.
The companies did not say how many OF THE BMW group's products would be covered by the Qualcomm deal.
"For Qualcomm, we've never had as many end-market opportunities as we have today," Amon said.
A BMW spokesman said the new chips would be used in the "Neue Klasse" range of cars due to go into production in 2025. Automotive chips are a key growth area for Qualcomm, which supplies dashboard chips for infotainment systems to companies such as General Motors Co.
The company has also been trying to compete with chip industry rival Nvidia Corp.
And Intel Corp. Launch a challenge to supply chips for driver-assistance computers such as automated lane-keeping and, eventually, autonomous driving systems.
Qualcomm and BMW will use dedicated Qualcomm computer vision processing chips to analyze data from front and rear cameras and surround cameras. BMW will also use Qualcomm's central computing chips and another set of Qualcomm chips to help cars communicate with cloud computing data centers.
BMW said the existing partnership between BMW and Intel's Mobileye autonomous driving technology unit would continue, although plans to launch a self-driving car in 2021 have yet to materialize.
A full-size 7-Series sedan with Intel Level 3 self-driving technology, which allows the car to drive itself under limited conditions but still requires a driver, will be released next year.
The companies did not say how many OF THE BMW group's products would be covered by the Qualcomm deal.
