The connected car market is the latest battleground for media companies, as they prepare to fight for a piece of an addressable market that will be comparable in scale to that of pay TV set-top boxes by 2025, according to Omdia’s latest research.
Omdia expects connected car numbers to increase from 230 million in 2021 to reach 571 million cars on the road by 2025. “These vehicles provide the next battlefield for the likes of Apple, Google and Amazon” according to Daniel Sutton, Principal Analyst at Omdia, “These companies have fought over the consumers’ home for the last decade and that is now expanding into automotive.”
The push towards autonomous cars – allowing the driver to consume media– will be a key longer-term segment for media companies to target. “We are seeing a strong growth of in-car display solutions” commented David Tett, Principal Analyst at Omdia, “Starting with the insertion of screens in the back and a front passenger screen, the media opportunity will arrive quickly in cars to the benefit of telcos, media companies and advertising partners thanks to location-driven services.”
Monetization opportunities are already being seen in the market, with infotainment add-on bundles allowing for renewable after sales revenues. Other major opportunities include whilst cars are parked to charge thus enabling video and advertisements to be consumed and upgraded hardware packages at point of sale.
CarPlay 2, Android Automotive and Amazon’s automotive Fire TV solution are already gaining partnerships in the market and many more will come as automotive vendors make important decisions about pursuing purely first-party in car solutions or working with external partners. Sutton concluded “New partnerships are being announced on a regular basis and there is scope for companies across the value chain to still seek and sign partnerships, but there is a hesitancy from some automotive brands to give up control of the valuable in-car media experience. Early-mover advantage could well be key here, so potential partners need to engage quickly or risk losing out on a big opportunity.”
