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| Waymo will not sell Lidar sensors to other companies |
Alphabet's autonomous driving division, Waymo, said it has ended its two-year effort to sell LiDAR (LiDAR) sensors to other companies.
Lidar sensors are placed on the surface, sides, and grille of autonomous vehicles and send out thousands of laser points to map the surrounding area.
This is in contrast to the previous strategy of selling lidar to customers in order to reduce the cost of critical and expensive components for autonomous vehicles.
"We are offering our lidar-powered business and will continue to focus on developing and deploying our Waymo driver software in Waymo One Shared Transportation and Waymo Via Delivery," a Waymo spokesperson said in a statement.
However, the spokesperson said it continues to make indoor lidar devices. The company plans to provide in-house technology and external suppliers for the next generation of lidar.
After the departure of the CEO and a few other executives, the lidar sale movement came to a halt. This begs the question of whether the company will rethink its strategy after failing to generate significant sales for more than a decade.
The company announced in 2019 that it would sell one of three different indoor lidar devices to customers in robotics, security, agricultural engineering and other fields. Instead of competing automakers.
"We can scale our autonomous technology faster," Lidar's team leader said at the time. This makes each sensor more accessible through economies of scale.
It is not clear whether the company can generate enough revenue to offset the cost of developing and operating its lidar distribution business.
Waymo will not sell Lidar sensors to other companies
Lidar uses laser pulses to measure distance and provide accurate images of the vehicle's surroundings. Most self-driving companies, including Waymo, have said lidar is the key to fully autonomous driving.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said companies that rely on expensive sensors are doomed to fail.
In 2018, the Alphabet subsidiary launched its first commercial independent taxi. He modified small Chrysler cars with his own autonomous driving equipment. However, the technology has yet to scale and expand beyond the limited area of suburban Phoenix.
He recently conducted a public test in San Francisco of an electric Jaguar and a new set of sensors.
Waymo began developing its range of sensors from scratch in 2011. This includes three types of lidar. One of them is a short-acting lidar called Lidar Hive.
In 2020, Alphabet estimates it has spent more than $3.5 billion on Waymo over the years. As the company seeks to improve its independent taxi and delivery services, these costs are expected to increase.