The 6th Automotive Semiconductor Ecosystem Conference 2026, held on September 16 in Shanghai, focused on the growing importance of automotive chips under the theme “Chips Gathering Ecosystem, Intelligence Opening Future.” Organized by Gasgoo, the conference highlighted topics such as computing power reconstruction, the RISC-V open ecosystem, and supply chain security.
Key Highlights from Gu Xiaoying’s Keynote:
- Chip Demand Growth: The number of chips in vehicles is increasing due to advancements in electrification, connectivity, and intelligence. For example, Level 3 autonomous electric vehicles require 200-300 more chips than traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.
- Market Forecast: The global automotive chip market is projected to grow from $67.7 billion in 2024 to $96.9 billion by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.4%.
- Value Over Volume: The industry is shifting focus from the quantity of chips to the value of high-performance chips, significantly those used in smart driving and cockpit systems.
- Market Concentration: The top five microcontroller vendors are expected to control about 92% of the global automotive market by 2025, with domestic players advancing in critical areas like battery management.
Trends Identified:
- Cross-domain Integration: Moving towards using fewer, more versatile chips.
- Rapid Growth of RISC-V: Emphasis on ecosystem development rather than just the architecture.
- Advancement in Chiplets: Chiplets are seen as key players in high-performance SoC development despite challenges like power consumption and verification.
RISC-V Development:
Gu emphasized that the rapid development of RISC-V relies on unified standards, robust tools, and support from major automotive players. This is about building an ecosystem rather than merely adopting an open instruction set.
The conference underscored the evolving landscape of automotive technology and the critical role that semiconductor advancements will play in shaping the future of the industry.
