Auto Shanghai 2025, one of the major global automotive events on the calendar, is taking place from 23 April – 2 May 2025 and GlobalData are there to cut through the noise to bring you the real insight behind the biggest announcements.

John Zeng (Director of Asian Forecasting) and Lancy Zhang (Powertrain Market Analyst) have shared their thoughts on some of the show’s biggest talking points. Having already discussed whether traditional ICE vehicles can compete in the autonomous era, they have now taken a look at Huawei’s ‘Auto Wintel’ ecosystem and its potential to reshape China’s smart vehicle industry.

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Key Takeaways

Huawei: Dominant Presence Without Being a Car Brand

At this year’s Auto Shanghai show, Huawei showcased its tech through two major exhibits: “Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU” (6.1H Hall) and “Harmony Intelligent Mobility” (5.2 Hall).

Its solutions (smart driving, cockpit systems, sensors) power cars from Audi, BMW, Seres, Chery, and more, covering 80% of Chinese automakers.

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Not the Biggest Booth, But the Biggest Influence

  • Traditional automakers like BYD and Volkswagen Group focus on selling cars; Huawei focuses on selling the “brain” of future cars.
  • Startups such as Xiaomi and NIO lack Huawei’s full-stack capabilities.

Insights

Why Huawei Stands Out

1. Three Partnership Models:

  • “Huawei Inside” (HI): Provides full tech stack (like chips + OS + self-driving).
  • “Smart Selection”: Deep collaboration (e.g., AITO M7/M9).
  • Component supply: Sells individual tech (e.g., lidar, HarmonyOS).

2. Huawei Inside delivers a full-stack smart vehicle solution including ADS autonomous driving, HarmonyOS cockpit, Ascend/Kirin chips, and LiDAR – establishing an “Auto Wintel” ecosystem.

Impact

For Car Companies, Huawei offers:

  • Cost Efficiency: faster R&D cycles, lower hardware (e.g., LiDAR) costs.
  • Rapid Updates: Full-stack optimization enables 2-3x faster OTA iterations.

Car Brands Face a Tough Choice

  • Use Huawei’s full package (fast but lose independence, 11+ brands such as AITO, AVATR, BAIC).
  • Self-develop (slow and expensive, like Tesla, NIO, XPeng).
  • Mix both (e.g., BYD, Geely use Huawei as component supply for Harmony OS, ADS etc.)

Analyst View

Huawei’s “Wintel of Autos” Strategy

Like Windows + Intel in PCs, Huawei combines HarmonyOS + Ascend chips + ADS software to create an all-in-one ecosystem.

Car brands using Huawei tech gain faster development but risk losing control (similar to PC makers relying on Wintel) and become “Huawei’s hardware partners”.

The Big Picture

The auto industry is splitting into two worlds:

  • Huawei’s China-centric ecosystem.
  • Western tech (NVIDIA + Mobileye + Android /Google) elsewhere.

Just like Wintel vs. Apple in PCs, the battle is about who sets the standards.

Conclusion

Huawei isn’t just a supplier—it’s rewriting the rules of how cars are made in China.
Automakers must decide: Join, compete, or get left behind.

John Zeng, Director of Asian Forecasting & Lancy Zhang, Powertrain Market Analyst, GlobalData

This article was first published on GlobalData’s dedicated research platform, the Automotive Intelligence Center.