So that’s — yes, will be great to be able to see that realized. And I would just say as well, there’s obviously, RFQ processes and whatever it may be that’s there but I think what’s — RFQs are cheap, to be able to send out. What’s important is that the automakers that are investing billions of dollars with us to be able to develop these kinds of new holistic systems and deployments that can go out onto their production vehicles and sort of show what’s possible, when it comes to the implementation of this technology. And that’s really what we’re seeing and going to continue to emphasize on. So it should be a smooth transition, ultimately, as people scale. And that will unlock, as I was alluding to before, even wider spread adoption of these kinds of capabilities.
Aileen Smith: And a follow-up question for Tom from one that was asked earlier, what specific risks are present given Luminar’s participation in the China market and the U.S. crackdown on sensitive technology?
Tom Fennimore: Yes. So I already talked about how important China is to us as a market as well as some of the success we’ve had over there. And we acknowledge that the world is becoming a more dynamic and complicated place from a geopolitical tensions and relationships perspective. And so as we continue to build and expand globally, we need to keep that in mind, as we grow. Having said all that, for our core LiDAR business, in our core automotive market, there are no limitations on us to operate anywhere in the world. And we don’t see that changing anytime in the near future. There are, I would say, obstacles, more on the software data collection mapping side, depending upon on the specific region and where we do face those limitations in a certain geography, we look to partner with the right people.
But on our core LiDAR business and our core automotive market, our goal is to be a major automotive player. And in order to achieve our goal of saving 100 million lives over the next 100 years, we need to be in every major region with our LiDAR technology.
Austin Russell: I think the risk is actually more the other way around in terms of not — it would be less so the U.S. not allowing technologies into China or China not allowing U.S. technologies into China. It would be the U.S. not allowing Chinese technologies into the Western market. I think that’s — those are some of the dynamics that we’re actually — that I think those are the questions that are being posed that I’m sure everybody has seen. So that’s the relevant factors, I think, at play right now.
Aileen Smith: Next one from retail shareholders. Before we switch back to the sell-side analysts, LiDAR technology is evolving to a place where competitors are making similar products for cheaper. Based on your current assets, what’s the long-term plan to deal with saturation in the LiDAR market? And are there plans to broaden R&D into other related technologies?
Austin Russell: Yes, so — I mean and so you’re saying is that what about the saturation for the LiDAR market?
Tom Fennimore: I think there’s like a lot of LiDAR companies, a lot of them are raising to the bottom like, here’s what I would say, when it comes to getting our LiDAR price — getting our LiDAR to a price point where it accelerates mass market adoption, that’s a core tenant of our next generation LiDAR and making sure that it is at a cost point where it can penetrate the mass market at a rate. So in terms of keeping the same technology at that not better at a lower price point, we achieve that strategy with our next generation. We are confident that we are going to be a winner, if not the winner in the LiDAR landscape. What we’re investing in outside of our LiDAR business is not to create a hedge, in case we’re not successful, it’s actually to build those tools to monetize the value that we create.
That’s why we’re getting into software. That’s already getting into mapping. That’s why we’re getting into insurance. And that’s why we’re selling the components that we make in our LSI business for a LiDAR into the non-automotive markets. And so we’re confident that our next generation LiDAR is going to have the price point to accelerate the mass adoption. And we’re confident we’re going to be a winner and we’re confident that the tools that we’re investing in are going to allow ourselves and our customers to monetize the value of the ecosystem that we create.
Austin Russell: And I think the important part here is like, when we say saturation for everything, like the relevant factor here and again, we have to take a step back, although like the numbers in this auto — like in automotive industry and there’s the sheer scale is absolutely massive that’s why as we talked about, it’s like okay, just 3% to 4% market penetration can be game-changing in terms of like increasing the value and business value by like orders of magnitude. Because like the point is that right now it’s not like 75% of cars are shipped with this like new technology on it and it’s a trillion dollar industry right now. It’s something that, well, less than like a — only a fraction of 1% of cars and even like what the number — the percentage of the market of cars the LiDAR is officially being actively integrated into in terms of the vehicle models right now is still, what, like a couple of percent.
So — and most of it probably captured by us. So I think the thing is that when you take a look at the overall market opportunity, it’s not a matter of over-saturation at this point. There is an over-saturation of R&D efforts that in terms of people trying to create different systems and technologies to be able to get into the market of which obviously the substantial and vast majority of which all have not been successful in that which is maybe no surprise and consistent with the message that we’ve given for years that in terms of the challenges and difficulties associated with this, much less meeting the performance requirements and specifications and safety requirements and being able to scale a business accordingly to do this. But when it comes down to it, I think, it’s less about the slice the pie, at this point about how big can we make this pie and how much adoption can we get as an industry how quickly.
