According to Reuters, Samsung Electro-Mechanics confirmed that it is currently in talks with Tesla Inc. The company is discussing with Tesla on a possible supply of camera modules deal. However, the company did not disclose the size or amount of the deal at this time. Samsung Electro-Mechanics added in a regulatory filing that the company will continue to work on advancing and building diverse camera modules.
Last year, Samsung launched its first car camera sensor ISOCELL Auto 4AC. Industry reports say the company may have struck a $436 million deal with Tesla to supply cameras for Tesla’s Cybertruck electric pickup. Earlier this year, another report suggests that the company’s Electro-Mechanics won the Cybertruck camera contract and beat LG Innotek. LG Innotek later confirmed that it was not participating in the bidding.
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In addition, its Electro-Mechanics is also supplying camera modules for smartphones. However, camera modules in electric vehicles are of higher value, so the company will further increase profits. According to TheElec, there are eight camera modules in Tesla electric cars, and car camera modules are more expensive than camera modules in smartphones. Thus, with this deal, Samsung will produce much more camera modules per unit.
Samsung will not make electric cars
Samsung will not have any issues doing business with Tesla because the company will not manufacture electric cars. The Korea Times, citing two Samsung executives claims that the company would not produce its own electric vehicles. The main reason is that it doesn’t think its efforts in electric vehicles will lead to sustainable profits. As a leading parts supplier to the electric vehicle industry, Samsung also wants to avoid potential conflicts with customers.
One of the sources said: “Samsung still has a lot of design-centric issues left unaddressed when dealing with the finished EV business. From Samsung’s perspective, it would be a big investment and probably not guaranteed to be of value”.
