How does Mobileye make money?

The majority of revenue comes from selling its EyeQ SoCs to OEM customers through Tier 1 suppliers

A few years ago, it seemed like we were on the verge of an autonomous vehicle (AV) revolution. Companies like Tesla, Uber and Google were regularly testing the technology, even in residential streets, and we were promised that we'd soon be in a future where there'd be a slew of cars with nobody at the wheel.

That, of course, didn't happen. In fact, despite spending billions developing the technology, some believe we're still another 10 years away, at least, from achieving that vision.

In the meantime, there are plenty of companies still betting on it, including Mobileye, which is developing autonomous driving technologies and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) including cameras, computer chips and software. The company, which was founded in 1999, was acquired by Intel in 2017 and went public again in October 2022.

The company, which has partnered with manufacturers such as BMW, Nissan and Volkswagen, has developed features such as the The EyeQ system-on-chip (SoC), which uses a camera sensor to provide features that include automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assist, traffic jam assist, and forward collision warning.

The company also has its Road Experience Management (REM) a high-precision mapping system, which generates AV maps from crowd-sourced data; a redundant sensor fusion architecture called True Redundancy, which uses data streams from 360-surround view cameras, lidar, and radar for autonomous driving; and it Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS) framework, which is used by international bodies that are currently developing standards with respect to the safety of autonomous vehicles.

As of July 2, 2022, the company's solutions had been installed in approximately 800 vehicle models and its our SoCs had been deployed in over 117 million vehicles. The company is actively working with more than 50 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). 

"Our portfolio of solutions is built upon a comprehensive suite of purpose-built software and hardware technologies designed to provide the capabilities needed to make the future of ADAS and autonomous driving a reality. These technologies can be harnessed to deliver mission-critical capabilities at the edge and in the cloud, advancing the safety of road users, and revolutionizing the driving experience and the movement of people and goods globally," the company wrote in its S-1 filing with the SEC. 

"We believe that our industry-leading technology platform, built upon over 20 years of research, development, data collection and validation, and purpose-built software and hardware design, gives us a differentiated ability to not only deliver excellent safety ratings and maintain a leadership position with our ADAS solutions, but also to make the mass deployment of autonomous driving solutions a reality."

The company makes almost all of its revenue currently from its commercially deployed ADAS solutions. That means selling its solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) through sales to Tier 1 automotive suppliers that implement its product into their vehicles, in which case the direct customer is the Tier 1 automotive supplier that is responsible for paying us for our products.

"Because of the complex nature of our products and the need to customize and validate a product and to integrate it into the OEM’s overall ADAS system, we also have strong direct relationships with the OEMs," the company explained. 

The majority of the company's revenue comes from sales of its EyeQ SoC, which represented approximately 94%, 93%, and 91% of its revenue for each of the years 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. 

In 2021, the company's revenue was $1.4 billion, up 43% from $967 million in 2020.

Mobileye went public on October 26, and saw its shares close up more than 37% in its debut, raising $861 million, and valuing it at $17 billion.