Carmakers Should Go 'Full Stack' As Software Gobbles Up Vehicles
Aindri Abhishek Singh
Author - The World during the Pandemic | Co-Founder & Head of Content Creation @Philaquest | Student @LodhaGeniusProgramme | Editor of College Magazine Odyssey | Intern @StepApp | TA for Hansraj Morarji Public School
In 2011, an expert predicted that "software would eat the world", as entire industries would modify from being hardware-driven to being captured by the software.
iTunes ate music, Netflix ate blockbusters, Amazon ate bookstores, and is now nibbling at retail. Now, it's the turn of cars.
The sudden shortage of semiconductor chips due to the pandemic was a rude reminder of this truth, and the result would be the production of many million cars less than usual. So it's not steel or rubber but the shortage of semiconductor chips that are cutting production down. Software and technology are now the heart of all vehicles.
Today's cars and trucks use thousands of semiconductor chips, running millions of lines of code, and this is constantly growing. Future innovations will be here, and not much on the mechanical side. For all OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), this is a rising threat.
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Since none of the software is written by the automakers themselves, there are now totally dependent on other firms. The second implication is cyber - security and cars can become the direct target of cyber - hackers. This is as the per hour data communication in a car maybe 25 GB, making it vulnerable to cars. The third implication is the sheer cost of repairs, as a simple windshield crack would need costly replacements namely cameras, sensors, and intelligence. So, using and throwing cars may be the future reality. The final implication is software updation. So far, all carmakers made beautiful hardware with invisible software inside. Tesla modified that and put software first and hardware bolted on.
Tesla's cars have powerful processors that execute code that talk to many sensors in the car, either through wires or wirelessly, and keep updating themselves. It's a full-stack approach, borrowed from Apple. Tesla controls the hardware, software, batteries built by Giga - factories, and chargers too. Elon Musk is now getting to insurance and repairs as well. What is the net result? Tesla's market value is more than the next five OEMs on the list put together.
The cars of the future will have the software firms eating up all of the profits, just as software eats up the cars.
- Aindri Abhishek Singh