Skip to main content

App integration ‘commonplace within five years’

A new report by Juniper Research on the telematics sector has found that the number of in-vehicle apps in use is expected to reach 269 million by 2018, representing a more than fivefold increase on 2013’s figure. According to the report, Connected Cars: Consumer & Commercial Telematics and Infotainment 2014-2018, growth will be fuelled by solutions such as Apple’s CarPlay, which will promote in-vehicle apps to the mainstream. It also argues that app integration will be facilitated as standardised approac
July 2, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
A new report by 7194 Juniper Research on the Telematics sector has found that the number of in-vehicle apps in use is expected to reach 269 million by 2018, representing a more than fivefold increase on 2013’s figure.

According to the report, Connected Cars: Consumer & Commercial Telematics and Infotainment 2014-2018, growth will be fuelled by solutions such as Apple’s CarPlay, which will promote in-vehicle apps to the mainstream. It also argues that app integration will be facilitated as standardised approaches like MirrorLink are adopted this year by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), content providers and automotive entertainment specialists.

“By 2018 most new vehicles will come with integrated apps as standard,” says the report’s author, Anthony Cox. “After-market app integration will also be commonplace, as head-unit manufacturers launch increasingly sophisticated devices”.  However, he observed that as with smartphone apps, only a small proportion will create revenues for their creators, even though they will enhance the driving experience.

The report found that although the integration of apps into the vehicle will have a profound effect on traditional monetisation models, potentially denting revenues, two factors will favour embedded Telematics. Firstly, regulatory initiatives such as the eCall driver safety project and Brazil’s regulation Contran 245 governing stolen vehicles, will guarantee the take-up of embedded Telematics in several key geographical regions.

Secondly, it argued that the ability to split the Telematics “bill” pioneered by major operators, systems integrators and the 2246 GSMA, will allow for granular billing of infotainment and other services. This will particularly be the case as streaming and other advanced services become available in developed markets through LTE adoption.

Nevertheless, the report claims that widespread smartphone tethering and in-vehicle apps would continue to drive down the price of vehicle manufacturers’ own embedded Telematics infotainment services.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • How technology is propelling the development of urban shared transport
    April 11, 2024
    Over 18 million people use ride-hailing apps in the UK alone, says Mariusz Zabrocki of Freenow
  • Telematics will ‘uber-ise’ the auto insurance industry, says new UBI study
    December 21, 2015
    Ptolemus Consulting Group has released the 2016 edition of its usage-based insurance global study by offering a free, 125-page abstract. Available to download today, the document reveals the key findings of the 1,000-page telematics insurance market analysis. With 230 active programmes and 12 million customers, usage-based insurance (UBI) is now a truly global phenomenon that reaches twice as many countries as two years ago. Ptolemus claims that by 2020, nearly 100 million vehicles globally will be in
  • Flir takeover of Traficon and the role of thermal imaging
    February 28, 2013
    Andy Teich, president of commercial systems at Flir, discusses the growing role of thermal technology in ITS and his company’s latest high-profile acquisition with Jason Barnes. Andy Teich, Flir’s president of commercial systems, doesn’t want to talk about infrared (IR). Instead, he’d prefer, he says, to discuss ‘thermal technology’. It is, he explains, to differentiate between the imaging technologies which his company specialises in and the LED illumination of IR cameras, an altogether different beast. Fl
  • Managing congestion, better information changes perceptions
    January 31, 2012
    Kapsch's Dietrich Leihs talks about the true fundamentals of urban pricing. In some Italian and German towns and cities, the solution to congestion is an outright ban on certain types of vehicles. As far as Dietrich Leihs is concerned, any attempt to sweeten the pill that is congestion charging is only ever going to be a partial success at best.