South Korean supplier Dongwoon Anatech has provided the haptic driver IC for Hyundai Motor’s latest SUV model in the Genesis lineup, the GV80. Industry sources said on Jan. 15 that Dongwoon is now in talks with foreign carmakers for a similar deal.
This marks the first time that Dongwoon Anatech has commercialized a chip for autos. The haptic driver IC was used for the GV80’s touch device controller. The driver IC usually goes for high prices, and market watchers expect it to be installed in other Hyundai car models as well – automotive software engineers usually prefer parts that have already been verified in other products.
Dongwoon is depending on its haptic driver IC to push up its revenues, and is looking to apply it to a wider variety of products, from smartphones and laptops to game controllers and VR devices. By as early as 2022, the firm expects the haptic driver IC sales to surpass those of its camera module AF driver IC.
“We believe the haptic driver IC sales to grow more than 10 times in 2021 from this year,” said a Dongwoon official.
Previously, Dongwoon Anatech had supplied haptic driver IC to the gaming smartphone launched by Asus in July, 2019. The Korean firm is now poised to apply it to laptop touch pads, gaming headsets and skin massagers.
Dongwoon signed a license deal with Nasdaq-listed Immersion, which holds patents for original haptic technology. This allows smartphones and wearable device companies to tap into Immersion’s haptic IP and solution. In the past, the product manufacturers all had to separately sign licensing deals with Immersion.
The Elec is South Korea’s No.1 tech news platform.