Operational Presence
China's largest lidar manufacturer shipping high-performance sensors to robotaxi operators and automakers worldwide. Supplies lidar units to major Chinese AV companies including Baidu Apollo, Li Auto, and Zeekr, as well as global robotaxi fleets. Leads the market in lidar unit shipments with its AT128 and FT120 product lines.
Value Chain Position
Chip Design
- •Custom Lidar ASICs: In-house transceiver and signal processing chips that enable Hesai to vertically integrate lidar production and reduce costs.
Sensors
- •AT128: 128-channel automotive-grade lidar with industry-leading shipment volumes. Used by Li Auto, Zeekr, and major robotaxi fleets.
- •ATX / FT120: Next-gen lidar sensors targeting ADAS and robotaxi markets with improved performance and lower cost per unit.
Key Milestones
Founded in Shanghai by David Li, Sun Kai, and Xiang Shaoqing (ex-Stanford/UIUC). Initially focused on industrial laser sensors (gas leak detection); pivoted to lidar for self-driving cars in 2016 starting with the Pandar40.
Pandar40 mechanical lidar shipped to robotaxi developers; first robotaxi-grade Chinese lidar and the sensor that would drive Hesai's early traction with Baidu Apollo, AutoX, WeRide.
Won Baidu Apollo lidar supply contract — first major robotaxi platform design win, validated Hesai's Pandar against US incumbents (Velodyne, Ouster).
Launched AT128 — automotive-grade hybrid solid-state lidar (128 channels, 200m range, $1K BOM target). Became China's top-shipping ADAS lidar starting H2 2022 with Li Auto, Lotus, Jiyue, Zeekr design wins.
Volume shipment of AT128 ADAS lidar begins — 60K+ units shipped in H2 2022. First mass-market mechanical-rotation alternative; lower cost than Velodyne and Innoviz.
Cumulative 100K lidar units shipped — first global vehicle-lidar firm to hit milestone. Closed 2022 as #1 by revenue worldwide, ahead of Velodyne (which would merge with Ouster in 2023).
Nasdaq IPO Feb 9 2023 — opened at $23.75 (+25% from $19 IPO price) at $2.98B market cap. Largest US-listed Chinese IPO since DiDi Jul 2021; first Chinese lidar maker public in US.
Cumulative lidar deliveries surpass 300K — first vehicle-lidar firm to hit the milestone. Confirmed market dominance with ~50% of global ADAS lidar shipments.
AT512 ultra-long-range ADAS lidar unveiled at CES 2024 — 12.3M points/sec, 400m range. Targeted L3+/L4 highway and trucking applications competing with Luminar Iris.
AT128 selected as primary lidar for DiDi-GAC Aion's first L4 mass-production robotaxi — 10 units per vehicle, anchor program for Hesai's 2025 robotaxi vertical.
Four AT128 sensors adopted across Pony.ai's Gen-7 robotaxi lineup — anchor 1,000-vehicle commitment for 2026; Hesai's largest single robotaxi customer order.
BYD partnership scaled — 10+ lidar-equipped models entering 2026 mass production. Anchor customer for ATX series (lower-cost variant).
Cumulative shipments crossed 1M units — industry first for vehicle-grade lidar. Maintained ~50% global share by units; gross margin expanded to 42% on AT128 scale.