One in Three Commercial Fleet Telematics Units Shipped Based on Consumer Smartphone Platforms by 2018

​With today’s mobile and cloud-based technology, commercial fleets no longer need to fit expensive hardware on their new trucks and the availability of consumer mobile devices with increasingly sophisticated capabilities means that smaller fleets are embracing commercial telematics.

Most fleet operators are already using smartphones as service access devices to monitor their fleets remotely. Now commercial telematics service providers are increasingly adapting their core applications including track & trace/route planning, driver behavior and fuel management solutions to run on consumer-grade smartphone and tablet devices.

“With GPS and accelerometer functionality, plus the power and flexibility of a sophisticated computer, smartphones and tablets are already important platforms for telematics applications,” comments Gareth Owen, principal analyst. “As sensors continue to develop, and new technologies such as voice and gesture recognition improve further, smartphone and tablet-based applications will become even more compelling for fleet telematics.”

Commercial telematics providers such as Telogis and XRS Corporation are becoming device agnostic and are making their solutions available on consumer-grade smartphone and tablet devices as well as the typical ruggedized, customized mobile and tablet PC devices. Another trend is ruggedized mobile devices increasingly being based on smartphones OSes such as Android, rather than Windows. For example, Zonar Technologies’ new 2020 remote terminal is based on a modified Android platform which gives fleet operators the flexibility to use applications from third party providers as well as from Zonar. There are also an increasing number of specialist providers, such as GreenRoad, who are focused specifically on developing lower-cost Android and iOS based telematics solutions for consumer-grade smartphone and tablet devices.

“Although there will always be a need for fixed terminals which cannot be switched off in certain specialized verticals, such as oil and gas or mining due to safety reasons, we see the trend towards using consumer-grade devices accelerating strongly in the future, particularly as truck OEMs are forced to open up their vehicles to third-party applications,” adds Owen.

These findings are part of ABI Research’s Commercial Vehicle Telematics and Mobile OS, Browsers and Applications Research Services.

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.