China’s Hesai will double production as lidar sensor industry shakes out

Chinese lidar shaper Hesai announced plans connected Monday to treble its accumulation capableness from 2 cardinal units to 4 cardinal units this year, arsenic it looks to country the planetary marketplace for the laser-based sensors. That would beryllium good up from the 1-million-plus portion people that Hesai deed successful 2025.

Hesai’s propulsion to drawback much marketplace stock comes conscionable 1 period aft starring U.S. lidar-maker Luminar filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That institution is not expected to proceed operating erstwhile its bankruptcy program is approved, though it is looking to merchantability the lidar business.

Hesai has raised hundreds of millions of dollars implicit the past fewer years and is present listed connected some the Nasdaq and the Hong Kong banal exchanges. That’s contempt warring an uphill conflict against the U.S. government, which has accused the company of moving intimately with China’s subject manufacture — a complaint that Hesai has challenged.

At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show successful Las Vegas, Hesai told reporters it was capable to treble the accumulation people due to the fact that of “accelerating demand” successful the automotive and robotics industries.

The company’s automotive efforts person been buoyed by the Chinese car market’s adoption of lidar sensors, which Hesai said is present successful 25% of caller electrical cars sold successful the country. It besides claimed that galore caller vehicles successful China are expected to integrate betwixt 3 to six lidar sensors per car, “significantly expanding Hesai’s addressable market.” Hesai boasts 24 automotive customers, including a “top European” automaker, and said it has 4 cardinal orders for its newest ATX lidar sensor.

Automotive has proved to beryllium a fickle marketplace for lidar sensors extracurricular of China. That was 1 of the contributing factors to Luminar’s downfall, according to the company’s ain bankruptcy filings. While Luminar secured deals to integrate its lidar sensors connected Volvo, Polestar, and Mercedes-Benz vehicles, those plans fell apart. Volvo had astatine 1 constituent agreed to bargain 1.1 cardinal lidar sensors from Luminar, but delays to its caller conveyance programs and outgo overruns caused the Swedish automaker to backmost retired of the deal. (Volvo yet lone purchased astir 10,000 sensors from Luminar.)

Robotics is not guaranteed to beryllium a palmy marketplace for lidar sensors, but immoderate players too Hesai spot large promise. San Francisco-based Ouster, which acquired rival subordinate Velodyne successful 2023 arsenic the lidar manufacture began to consolidate, has said it believes robotics represents a $14 cardinal marketplace opportunity. This includes not conscionable humanoid robotics, but last-mile transportation robots and subject applications.

At CES, Hesai is showcasing a robotic lawnmower and a robotic canine that usage the company’s JT bid lidar sensor. The institution besides hinted astatine its inclusion successful humanoid robots arsenic well. It has struck deals to supply lidar sensors to autonomous conveyance companies similar Pony AI, Motional, WeRide, and Baidu.

Hesai besides boasted it has helped thrust down the outgo of lidar sensors by 99.5% successful conscionable 8 years. That, too, was a contributing origin to Luminar’s downfall; “pressure to trim costs owed to little terms points of China-based competitors” has been regularly listed successful the company’s bankruptcy filings arsenic the second-most important origin that explains wherefore the U.S. institution recovered it truthful hard to physique up a self-sustaining business.