Samsung signs camera supply contract with US EV maker believed to be Tesla

Key Points

• 📷 Samsung Electro-Mechanics has signed a camera supply contract with a prominent US electric vehicle (EV) maker.
• 🤝 The EV maker is strongly believed to be Tesla, although it was not explicitly named in the announcement.
• 🚗 Samsung is expected to supply ultra-high-definition camera modules with over 5 million pixels for several Tesla vehicles, including the Cybertruck, Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y.
• 🧐 The contract underscores Samsung’s efforts to become one of Tesla’s key suppliers, potentially replacing LG Innotek in providing camera modules for Tesla.
• 💻 Samsung also secured a contract to supply chips for Tesla’s next-generation Hardware 5.0 computer, although the rollout of HW5 is still a few years away.

A recent report from South Korea has noted that Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. had signed a camera supply contract with a prominent electric vehicle maker from the United States. While the South Korean firm did not name its client for the contract, speculations are high that the American electric car maker is Tesla. 

The deal was announced by Samsung Electro-Mechanics on Monday. As per the company, it has secured a camera supply contract with its US client, though the scale of the deal is yet to be finalized. “We have signed a contract to supply camera modules to the US automaker. The quantity and amount of supply have not been determined,” the firm noted. 

As stated in a report from The Korea Economic Daily, Samsung Electro-Mechanics is expected to supply cameras for several of Tesla’s vehicles, including the Cybertruck, the Model S, Model 3, Model X, and Model Y. The cameras would reportedly be ultra-high-definition units with over 5 million pixels. Such cameras could be valuable for Tesla, considering the company’s focus on vision-based autonomous driving. 

Samsung appears to be putting in a lot of effort to secure its spot as one of Tesla’s most important suppliers. Last year, reports suggested that Samsung Electro-Mechanics would be replacing LG Innotek as Tesla’s lead camera module supplier. At the time, LG reportedly provided 70% of Tesla’s camera modules, while Samsung provided the remaining 30%.

Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ camera supply contract is the second major win for the South Korean company this year. Back in July, reports indicated that Samsung had won a contract to supply chips for Tesla’s next-generation Hardware 5.0 computer. HW5, however, is likely still years away before it is rolled out to the Tesla fleet. 

For context, Tesla is still in the process of releasing Hardware 4.0 to its fleet. Even the vehicle used by Elon Musk to demonstrate FSD Beta V12’s capabilities on public roads was only equipped with Hardware 3.