LiDAR News: Leddartech, Xaos, IDTechEx, Velodyne, Uber

Leddartech's Frantz Saintellemy, President and COO, features in a podcast:



Korea-based Xaos Sensor presents its MEMS-based LiDARs priced at $200:

IDTechEx publishes a nice video with review of different LiDAR approaches on the market:

Forbes contributor Sabbir Rangwala publishes his analysis of Velodyne merger with GRAF and going public:

• Velodyne's valuation post-deal close has grown from ~$1.8B (Velodyne was estimated at a valuation of $1.6B before the merger announcement) to ~$3B as of July 21, 2020
• The ASP per unit drops from $7K in 2019 to $600 in 2024 – which is ~ a 10X reduction, and therefore a 10X increase in volumes shipped
• The growth in market share and unit volumes is based on a transition from the 360° FOV LiDAR products (Surround LiDAR which Velodyne has traditionally dominated) to the Vela series of products in which there is significant competition, and Velodyne is just starting to develop
• Finally, profitability and cash flow – they currently lose about $50M/year, break even by 2023 as the Vela products kick in
• The above analysis indicates that a part of their growth will need to come from acquisitions

Bloomberg reports that Uber conciders a guilty plea by its former LiDAR engineer Anthony Levandowski is proof that he’s a liar, and supports its decision to make Levandowski alone shoulder a $180M legal award Google won against him.

He agreed to plead guilty to Google-Waymo LiDAR trade secret theft and was driven into bankruptcy when Google won a contract-breach arbitration case against him. Levandowski was counting on Uber’s promise when it first hired him to provide legal cover, known as indemnification, from his former employer.

Uber now says it has no obligation to reimburse Levandowski for the $180M.