Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS) executives used a recent webinar to outline what CEO Glen De Vos described as the lidar industry’s shift from a technology-proving phase to a commercialization-focused era he repeatedly referred to as “Lidar 2.0.” In a fireside chat moderated by McKinsey & Company Senior Partner Emeritus Hans-Werner Kaas, De Vos said the market is moving away from “hardware bragging rights” toward value creation, lower cost, and execution at scale across automotive and non-automotive applications.
From “Lidar 1.0” to “Lidar 2.0”
De Vos characterized the industry’s first chapter as one built on “Silicon Valley disruption,” with expensive, best-in-class hardware financed on the assumption that automotive volume would arrive quickly and drive costs down. He said that dynamic contributed to “flashy wins,” but also fragile revenue expectations, heavy cash burn, and subsequent industry “washouts” as the timelines and uncertainty of automotive revenue became clearer.
MicroVision’s four “pillars” for commercialization
De Vos said MicroVision is building to lead Lidar 2.0 by combining four capabilities:
- Portfolio breadth and performance: He said the company needs products spanning short-range and long-range use cases and designed for deployment rather than demos, serving automotive, industrial, and security/defense markets.
- Cost and “the right price”: De Vos emphasized a “design-to-cost” philosophy, saying “price enables volume, not the other way around,” and that economics must be treated as a primary requirement.
- Software as leverage: He said MicroVision is shifting its center of gravity toward software that lowers cost, increases flexibility, and strengthens system capability for customers.
- Capital discipline and execution: De Vos said successful scaling requires disciplined capital deployment, selectivity in customer engagement, and delivery “on time” and “on budget” to automotive-grade expectations.
Customer expectations and target markets
In automotive, De Vos said customer requirements have shifted from interest in technology potential—often tied to Level 3 and Level 4 automated driving narratives—to concrete value for end consumers at an acceptable on-cost. He noted that some OEMs have recently “pulled back” on Level 3 offerings, attributing the challenge to a perceived mismatch between consumer benefit and the feature’s incremental cost. He cited examples of high on-costs for advanced offerings compared with lower-cost ADAS packages that consumers widely adopt and do not want to “take a step back” from once experienced.
Beyond automotive, De Vos said industrial applications focus on automation (including autonomous forklifts and robotics) and safety systems for human-operated equipment. In security and defense, he pointed to rapid movement in unmanned ground vehicles and drones, including mapping, perception extension, and ISR-type missions.
He argued that pursuing multiple end markets supports nearer-term monetization while automotive adoption develops, and over time provides revenue resilience and diversification because automotive is cyclical while other markets follow different cycles.
Acquisitions and the Luminar rationale
Kaas and De Vos also discussed consolidation in the lidar space. De Vos said MicroVision has been “actively acquiring” and described the company as a “force of consolidation,” citing Ibeo (approximately three years ago), Scantenna (earlier this year), and “more recently, Luminar.” He said the company evaluates acquisitions based on technology and talent, adding that Luminar also brought commercial relationships.
On Luminar specifically, De Vos highlighted two primary contributions: expanding MicroVision’s portfolio with a long-range lidar offering and acquiring technology building blocks that can be applied more broadly; and accelerating commercialization through customer relationships and contracts that “pull forward” a path to revenue. He framed the deal as intended to help MicroVision “move faster” on both technology development and commercialization rather than simply “grow bigger.”
De Vos said MicroVision’s first priority after the Luminar transaction was to engage customers and “repair” and restart relationships that had been disrupted by Luminar’s financial difficulties. He said the company has been supporting customer needs on products he referenced as Iris and Halo and described customer interactions as “very positive.”
Execution, shipments, and leadership buildout
De Vos emphasized execution as the differentiator between demonstrating technology and delivering automotive-grade products over long lifecycles. He said MicroVision has begun shipping product against purchase orders transferred from Luminar, stating shipments to a European customer started “this week.” He described that as the beginning of proving the company can deliver and support customers as a long-term partner.
In a Q&A segment, De Vos outlined what he sees as differentiation for the “new MicroVision,” citing portfolio breadth (including multiple scanning approaches and coverage from short range to long range), talent in the U.S. and Germany, an “open software framework” intended to ease integration with customers’ system architectures, and a “maniacal focus on cost.”
He also discussed expected pricing sensitivity in automotive and offered benchmarks he said reflect industry expectations, including targets for long-range and short-range lidar components as the market moves from Level 3 toward broader Level 2 adoption. Kaas added that camera and radar systems took many years to reach today’s cost levels and argued lidar’s cost trajectory must move faster than prior ADAS technology cycles.
Finally, De Vos said the company’s CFO search is ongoing and targeted for completion in the second quarter, adding that MicroVision has leadership and finance capabilities in place while it works to complete what he called a critical hire.
About Microvision (NASDAQ:MVIS)
MicroVision, Inc (NASDAQ: MVIS) is a technology company specializing in laser scanning and sensing solutions. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Redmond, Washington, MicroVision develops its proprietary PicoP® scanning technology, which integrates miniature lasers and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) mirrors to create high-resolution projection displays and three-dimensional sensing systems. Over the years, the company has built a portfolio of patents and intellectual property focused on precision optics and laser-based signal processing.
At the core of MicroVision’s offerings is its display platform, which enables compact, energy-efficient projection for augmented reality (AR) headsets, head-up displays (HUDs) in automotive environments, and consumer electronics applications such as pico projectors.
