A group of investors has successfully won lidar vendor Quanergy’s assets in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware auction, completing the company’s Chapter 11 sale.
Under the deal, the Quanergy name brand will remain and the company will stay in the lidar sensor and smart 3D solutions market, specifically focused on three main internet of things (IoT) segments. These include:
- Physical security — Lidar has been deployed in 100 infrastructure sites such as major datacenters, airports, utilities, prisons and transportation authorities.
- Smart space/smart cities — Flow management solutions to increase retail revenues, improve real-estate utilization, reduce queueing time and more.
- Industrial automation — For long range, leading angular resolution and accuracy for port automation and mobile robotics.
Under the sale, the investors will bring venture capital to Quanergy and seek to grow the company’s management team as well as partners, the company said.
Why it is important
The most interesting thing here is that the lidar market has entered a period of fluctuation. There are numerous lidar vendors in the market and not enough money to keep them all afloat. And now the market seems to be entering a period of consolidation.
Earlier this month, two lidar vendors, Ouster and Velodyne, completed a merger that will create a larger company to compete in the market.
The largest use case for lidar is in the automotive market but there are far less automotive OEMs than there are lidar makers. So that means not everyone will be able to survive. However, lidar is being used in several other use cases such as smart cities, remote monitoring, surveying, the internet of things (IoT) and more.
Some companies may be able to carve a niche out in these markets to survive, but in terms of volume, the automotive market will remain king.
