Commercial telematics shipments set for solid growth

RSSAt a CAGR of 27 per cent, commercial telematics systems shipments are set for solid growth. However, the fleet management industry continues to be haunted by structural problems: extreme levels of fragmentation with too many ‘me too’ and ‘dots-on-a-map’ providers and proprietary solutions littering the landscape.

According to 5725 ABI Research telematics and navigation group director Dominique Bonte, “The commercial telematics industry faces aggressive consolidation which should ultimately result in the reduction of the hundreds of vendors into at most ten major global players. This process is already well underway with recent mergers and acquisitions including 748 Masternaut and 1060 Cybit, 1985 Trimble and Punch Telematics, and, most recently, Trimble and PeopleNet.”

ABI Research says that 213 Qualcomm, 1692 TomTom Business Solutions, Mix Telematics, 2069 Daimler Trucks, 609 Volvo Trucks, Digicore / Ctrack, and Trimble are emerging as true global players. However, consolidation is only effective when tight technical and commercial integration is achieved, a process which can take years. Also required are the adoption of open software approaches, scalable Software as a Service (SaaS)-based platforms, telematics standards, and new business models, as well as the embrace of convergence and a far-reaching willingness to cooperate across the whole value chain in the form of partnerships.

ABI Research’s new Commercial Telematics Market Data report contains forecast data per region on hardware shipments, hardware revenue, system users, subscribers and service revenues in the commercial telematics sector. Statistics on vehicle sales and vehicles in operation are also included.