Thoughts on visit to the Tier One supplier for European and American major carmakers – JET Optoelect

By Jeff Lee / Mike Song 2022-06-22

In addition to the implementation of new technologies, the most important change of car design in the future is the re-arrangement of interior space… Because the existence of driver’s seat, instrument panel, and center console won’t be needed anymore, the design of HMI will start taking consideration of the interaction with windows, roofs, door panels, and seats; and the best interface is touch panel. The direction of development like this is for JET Optoelectronics to keep growing from rear seat entertainment systems. Electronic companies in Taiwan have both strength and flexibility, and it’s the top priority for not only JET Optoelectronics but also the other electronic companies with the ambition to seize the opportunity in the automotive new technology industry and to start and enhance the ability to provide customization services based on different demands from automakers.

Automotive rear seat entertainment systems had always been one of the standard features for high-end brands to show the value of car models. When the age of BEVs or even autonomous driving vehicles comes in the future, in the territory of smart cockpit, the application field will be wider, and the business opportunity will be bigger for the technology like HMI touch screen. On the afternoon of June 17th, the editors from Auto Future came to JET Optoelectronics, which headquartered in Neihu, Taipei City, to interview with the chairman Jerry Lin to discuss about the current situation of JET Optoelectronics and the prospect of related industries.

The main product lineup of JET Optoelectronics is automotive rear seat entertainment systems for now, and their products are at the leading level of both technology and market share in the world, and they are listed as Tier One supplier for VAG’s Bentley, Porsche, Audi, Stellantis groups’ Chrysler, Jeep, and Ford; technically the most difficult part is that it utilizes Amazon Fire platform to develop products for American brands, and they have to cooperate with German OEMs to develop products by utilizing Linux OS structure, which means the R&D resource will be doubled. Amazon Fire platform allows rear seat passengers to wirelessly upload  data from cell phones to screens to watch, and it is also connected to the CANBUS of cars to let rear seat passengers control the AC via the screen. For Linux, however, due to Digital Copyright limitation, uploading data from cell phones is not allowed, but it’s free to use. Consequently, there are pros and cons of these two systems, and it’s hard to predict who will be the winner in the future. However, JET Optoelectronics not only dual trends in parallel to develop (“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”), but also signed agreement to cooperate with APIOS, which is focused on seat entertainment systems for airplanes, to transplant the experience from the development of automotive systems in the moment that the technology of low orbit satellite is mature nowadays, to let video signals wirelessly upload to screens on seats in real-time and clearly way. Jerry Lin predicts that this technology will be getting popular on airplanes in the next few years. In addition to these world-famous major carmakers mentioned above, JET Optoelectronics will keep exploring the business opportunities to cooperate with other high-end brands to pave the way for the leadership in rear seat entertainment systems.

Another automotive product of JET Optoelectronics that is worth mentioning are “intelligent” dashcams that entered Japan market; Different from ordinary dashcams, this one with two cameras can connect to ADAS-related functions  (such as lane departure and collision warning) to warn drivers simultaneously with the car system; in addition, there are safety warning-related  products that can detect the radius difference between inner ( front and rear ) wheels when heavy duty trucks or buses are making a turn, to ensure the safety of surrounded people and cars. In the end of interview, we also discuss about the possible new business opportunities in the future with Jerry Lin… The first is the design of the interior space in autonomous driving vehicles, and it is highly possible to design a massive infotainment touch screen between front and rear seat passengers that is interoperable, and this kind of design that is based on OLED panels will be the next big cake for infotainment companies. The second is the AR screen, replacing the windshields that started to show up two years ago, which can provide information about driving environments that is easy for reading then conduct human-car interaction. This feature that is high-cost but with high-intelligence can improve the passengers’ sense of safety for autonomous driving vehicles, and will also be equipped on high-end autonomous driving vehicles in the future. Suppliers need to have higher technology level of software/hardware plus the intimate “Tier 0.5” cooperation with carmakers to realize these two futuristic features in the automotive new era.