Telematics might just be getting started at the moment, but it’s growing stupendously quickly. According to some, the industry will be worth tens of billions of dollars in just a few years time, whilst others have focused on the market strength in other ways. ABI Research for example, believes that by 2017, telematics machine to machine (M2M) communication, could take over as much as 40 per cent of current cellular connections.
This is impressive, because M2M connections are growing year on year, regardless of what category you look at. ABI predicts it will by as many as 600 million connections by the end of the decade.
Dan Shey, practice director at ABI, said of the report, “Vehicles are being targeted on two fronts for cellular connectivity. OEMs are embedding cellular to both add safety, convenience, and infotainment features, but also to improve maintainability and most importantly to avoid recalls.Insurance companies are implementing cellular connectivity typically as an aftermarket product for user-based insurance and stolen vehicle tracking services. Cellular connections enable tremendous value for both markets which are still relatively underpenetrated.”
As it stands, the two most common connection types among cellular communications are to do with advanced metering infrastructure and remote monitor and control, but their reign won’t last long. Telematics is hot on their heels and with manufacturers of vehicles starting to get in on the telematics scene during the car making process, rather than relying on third parties to add the hardware and software in afterwards; it’s no wonder telematics will soon be so dominant.
For those manufacturers or cars that don’t include the hardware, or in lower end models where it may not be economically feasible, there’s always insurers which are keen for drivers to take up the little black boxes so that they can cut back on insurance payouts. Drivers should be keen to take the packages on too, since their fuel economy, safety and insurance premiums can be improved because of it.
There’s a lot more information in ABI’s report if you want to investigate further, titled under its M2M Services and Modules research. It correlates data on market sales and insights on the future from industry leaders, as well as providing revenue forecasts across 20 different countries and regions.
About ABI Research
ABI is a market research firm based in new York, giving regular reports on industries like: the connected home, internet of things, mobile devices, cyber security, ID theft, RF power semiconductors, Mobile carrier performance, location technology and much more. Formed in 1990 and incorporated just a year later by founder Tim Archdeacon, the company now provides analysis to professionals, enterprises, journalists and more, looking to gain an insight into a particular industry. As its official site puts it: “ABI Research quantifies the important markets of today, defines the strategic technologies of tomorrow, and provides insight on how technology is adopted into vertical markets.”
