The Qualcomm Snapdragon SA8155P chip is touted by Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers as one of the main selling points of their latest models, showing China’s continued reliance on American core technologies. EV maker Li Auto highlighted the smart cockpit of its recently launched flagship L9 model, which is powered by two Snapdragon SA8155P chips – part of Qualcomm’s range of 7-nanometer automotive semiconductors. Zeerkr, a new energy vehicle brand under Chinese carmaker Geely, said the smart cockpit in the upgraded 001 model, launched last week, also runs on Qualcomm’s 8155P processor, replacing the previous 820A chip. The two brands are among a long list of Chinese EV makers, including Xpeng and Nio, that have adopted Qualcomm’s flagship 8155P chip in their latest models, giving the U.S. fabless chip firm – already a leader in the smartphone sector – a clear lead in China’s EV market.
“SA8155P has become a popular choice among car companies because it is a great system-on-chip (SoC) in general,” according to a Li Auto employee. “Other similar products offer worse performance in terms of computing power and other specs.” Modified from Qualcomm’ 4G smartphone chip 855, the SA8155P provides computing power for Android-based smart cockpit systems, usually equipped with multiple screens and sensor devices. The chip’s dominance lays bare China’s heavy reliance on imports for high-end semiconductors, despite the country’s efforts to reduce reliance on foreign semiconductor technologies amid U.S.-China tensions. While China’s import volume of integrated circuits dropped by 10.4% in the first half of this year from a year ago, the value of those imports increased by 6.4% to USD210 billion. By comparison, China’s crude imports totaled just USD181 billion in the same period, despite high oil prices.
Chinese carmakers have been scrambling to adopt more domestic chips. Geely has released its 7-nm SE1000, developed by Chinese firm Siengine, that could be used in its vehicles next year. Both Siengine and rival Semidrive are pouring resources into making smart cockpit chips to compete with foreign vendors. But for now, few local chips can rival the Snapdragon SA8155P. Since 2014 Qualcomm has rolled out four automobile cockpit SoCs: the Snapdragon 620A, Snapdragon 820A, Snapdragon SA8155P, and Snapdragon SA8259P – a 5-nm chip released in 2021 that Baidu’s car venture Jidu Auto has chosen to adopt in future vehicles.
Globally, SA8155P, the world’s first 7-nm SoC, has become Qualcomm’s most widely used chip of its kind because it is compatible with Android, which is the basis of most central control systems created by EV makers, the South China Morning Post reports. China’s cockpit SoC market size is set to reach CNY20.4 billion by 2025, according to investment bank China International Capital Corp.
