Consumer telematics hardware and services revenue to hit $41bn by 2013

2 April 2008

According to ABI Research forecasts, OEM and aftermarket consumer telematics hardware and services will generate annual revenue of $41 billion by 2013.

Market growth will be further stimulated by three main factors:

• Car manufacturers will deploy telematics hardware as a standard feature enabling remote diagnostics
• Governments will make telematics safety systems such as emergency calling mandatory in new cars in regions such as the EU
• Insurance companies will provide premium discounts to drivers willing to install telematics systems to monitor their driving behaviour and for stolen vehicle tracking and recovery

An important evolution is the emergence of affordable portable and converged telematics solutions. As entry-level products, they will play an important role in increasing consumers' awareness of the benefits of telematics, which in turn will drive the adoption of OEM systems.

However, ABI Research principal analyst Dominique Bonte says that several barriers will need to be removed before consumer telematics can enjoy mass market adoption. Cellular carriers need to reduce their data communications fees, standardisation efforts must be accelerated, and services and user interfaces will have to be simplified dramatically.