Futuresource Infotainment in the Connected Car Market

Forecasts from Futuresource Consulting point to 422 million connected cars on the roads by 2026, up from 233 million in 2022, and representing one quarter of all cars in use across the globe. 

As the opportunity for OEMs and third-party providers continues to climb, connected infotainment is playing a leading role. The CE technology is perfectly positioned to offer tangible and easily delivered benefits to users, car manufacturers, CE vendors and service providers. From an increase in high-definition screens, at bigger sizes, to gaming, news content delivery, and productivity tools, in-car infotainment is at the centre of a momentous demand upsurge.  

As a result, car manufacturers are now aiming to reposition themselves as experience creators and service providers through new software-defined business models. In addition, OEMs, tech companies and service providers are all lining up to target in-car technology, in a strategic move to establish new revenue streams.  

Beyond the screens, the opportunity for in-car voice assistants is attracting leading voice platform providers like Apple, Amazon, Google, Cerence, SoundHound, Baidu and Yandex. And while brands converge on the connected infotainment space, automotive OEMs are facing a dilemma. Should they allow leading tech providers to take over the infotainment system or maintain full control of the in-car experience themselves? Although dedicated operating systems allow OEMs to carefully craft the optimum brand experience in their cars, as well as keeping them in control of the data flow, they need to consider whether customers will demand the ability to seamlessly use their favoured CE platforms.  

This balancing act goes beyond embedded voice versus smartphone mirroring solutions, and will become more pronounced as 5G network deployment continues to gain ground, boosting the demand for car infotainment consumption across audio, video and gaming.