Lidar maker Hesai reports record revenue, shipments in Q2

Hesai Technology, a Shanghai-based lidar company, saw its revenue and shipments hitting records in the second quarter, thanks to growing demand for advanced driving-assist systems.

Lidar, which stands for light detection and ranging, is a sensor technology that is crucial to smart vehicles' advanced driving-assist systems, or ADAS, and autonomous driving functions.

Hesai's revenue hit 440.3 million yuan ($60.7 million) in the second quarter this year, up 108.5 percent year-on-year, according to its quarterly financial results released on Tuesday.

Its lidar shipments in the quarter hit 52,106 units, soaring 946.5 percent year-on-year. Hesai said the growth of its ADAS-related lidar sensors was particularly strong, with shipments reaching 45,694 units, compared to 1,651 units in the same quarter last year.

In the same quarter, it secured new design wins with China's SAIC Motor for multiple series-production vehicle models, said Hesai. It also forged two new development programs with two leading global carmakers, one from North America and the other from Europe.

Hesai has design wins from 11 carmakers, six of which will start mass production and delivery before the end of 2023.

Also in the second quarter, the company deepened its cooperation with Nvidia, announcing integrating its lidar sensors into some of the US chipmaker's ecosystems.

Yole Intelligence forecasts that Hesai will maintain its No 1 position in the market for 2023. The company has been the world's top automotive lidar supplier, capturing 47 percent of the market by revenue in 2022.