Ford and Harman Top ABI Research’s 2013 Car OEM and Tier-1 Suppliers Connected Infotainment Competitive Assessments

Ford is ranked the No. 1 OEM player for the second year running in ABI Research’s Competitive Assessment of the connected infotainment market closely followed by BMW in second and Toyota in third. Meanwhile, Harman is ranked as the No. 1 Tier-1 supplier followed by Panasonic and Bosch in second and third positions respectively.

The two Competitive Assessments separately assessed 13 car OEMs and 21 Tier-1 automotive suppliers based on a number of “Innovation” and “Implementation” criteria.

Among the OEMs, Ford, Toyota, and BMW were the top three players in the Innovation category while BMW, Ford, and Audi led the Implementation category. “Key factors which contributed to Ford’s top rating were its regional coverage, its dominant market position and the affordability of its Ford SYNC/My Touch platform,” comments Gareth Owen, principal analyst. “In second place was BMW, which scored high on regional coverage, an excellent feature set, and the quality and reliability of its hardware. Toyota also scored highly on quality as well as its commitment to open platforms.”

Amongst the Tier-1s, the top three players in the Innovation category were Harman, Panasonic, and Bosch. “Harman excelled due to its dominant market share and its global presence, while Panasonic scored high in the multimedia streaming sub-category and was second in terms of market share behind Harman.”

JVC Kenwood and Alpine Electronics occupied the first and second positions in the Implementation category with Harman, Pioneer, and Clarion tying for third place. JVC Kenwood earned the highest score in the Implementation category on account of its high scores across the various criteria in this category including overall features, smartphone connectivity options, and navigation systems.

These findings are part of ABI Research’s Automotive Infotainment Research Service which provides analysis of key developments and trends in the marketplace and quantitative information via its extensive car infotainment database. It includes a database updated on a quarterly basis which provides detailed installed base and forecasts of the car infotainment market by type and region as well as information and forecasts on Bluetooth penetration in cars, automotive apps, and automotive operating systems split by global region.

For more information on the connected car, please consider attending ABI Research’s upcoming webinar: “ The Internet of Everything and the Connected Car”. The webinar will be hosted by VP and practice director, Dominique Bonte and principal analyst, Gareth Owen, on September 12th, 11am EST.

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 70+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.