Page 39 - HSP Annual Report 2022

A Bellwether for the global EV industry
Tihao Chiang, chairman Ambarella Taiwan Ltd.
Established in Silicon Valley in January 2004, Ambarella International LP opened shop in the HSP in October of the same year. Of its global workforce of some 800, more than half of its R&D manpower is deployed in Taiwan. The company is now recognized as a leader in automotive multimedia processors thanks to its core competence in algorithm optimization that renders image and AI processing while incurring ultralow power consumption. Its products have found extensive human-vision and edge AI applications, such as automotive functional safety, advanced driver assistance systems, smart electronic mirrors, automotive video recorders, driver monitoring systems and in-cabin monitoring, fleet management solutions, L4 autonomous driving, and robotics.
A legendary processor architect’s innovative algorithm with ultralow power consumption
Ambarella co-founder Les Kohn is credited with the launch of SPARC and NIAGARA during his legendary days as a Sun Microsystems, Inc. processor architect. It is Kohn who laid the very foundation of Ambarella’s powerful processor algorithm. In a plain and simple way, Chairman Chiang—who is an IEEE fellow—explains why Ambarella has secured a predominant standing in automotive processors: “One way to lower power consumption is to spend big on advanced manufacturing processes, thus saving power consumption by 30-50%. Ambarella, by contrast, can save several times more power by drawing on an innovative algorithm plus a special AI instruction set made possible by our unique processor architecture and compiler.” Ambarella's exceptional power-saving performance proved an instant hit. Samples of CV3, its latest domain controller chip, were presented to customers in the middle of 2022. Within months, it was adopted by a number of automotive tier-1s.
Persistent R&D investment to consolidate Taiwan’s technological base
“Competitors are dozens of and even 100 times larger than us,” Chiang says. While its years of hard work in the automotive market begins to pay off, Ambarella remains committed to persisting with long- term investment in R&D and innovation going forward. Building a serious presence in the automotive market, Chiang points out a hard truth, “calls for nonstop spending on R&D and innovation.” An automotive chip design project normally takes around five years, all the way from spec finalization to mass production. Coupled with the need for ISO 26262, ASPICE, ISO-21434, and AECQ-100 certification, investment returns are unlikely to materialize until years later. On top of its acquisition of Oculii Corp. for US$300 million, Ambarella funnels some US$100 million toward R&D each year. That is, the company has invested a cumulative over NT$24 billion in the automotive market. Most foreign companies set up only sales and technical support departments in Taiwan. Ambarella, by contrast, is committed to building up its primary R&D base in Taiwan and having its core processor technology take root here.
Contrarian investment for sailing into automotive market’s “blue ocean”
Rising inflation makes consumers reluctant to spend. Destocking is all but a common goal for electronics companies this year. Financially sound, Ambarella is not only confident in surmounting this challenge but also ready to take advantage of this tough time in investing more in the development of next-generation chips. The company is set to join forces with Taiwan’s ICT industry to create a new automotive ecosystem and, in turn, a new, vastly broader market.
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3 Score Success via Innovative Empowerment