Earlier this year, several car OEMs announced that they would be releasing new cars installed with CarPlay capabilities, including Ford, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar/Land Rover, Toyota, Nissan, and Volvo, with many others sure to follow. As such, ABI Research forecasts that in 2019 over 24 million new cars will be fitted with CarPlay. In addition, the uptake of MirrorLink is expected to be fairly significant.

Without an open ecosystem, car makers could be forced to collaborate with more than one partner. This trend is concerning, as car manufacturers will worry about incompatibility and whether supporting the wrong platform will lead to lost sales. For consumers, it could potentially mean asking the dealer, “Will my smartphone be compatible with my car?”

MirrorLink, OAA, and GENIVI have all positioned themselves as “open sourced” and could be considered competitors—which goes against being open. Despite the fact that Android Auto has only just been launched, it claims that it already has the backing of 40 car makers and as early as next year we should expect announcements. With this in mind, by 2019, uptake of the Android Auto standard could be more aggressive than CarPlay. 

“Many believe Apple is creating further fragmentations and a ripple effect in the industry by not being open,” said Filomena Berardi, senior analyst. “However, love it or hate it, with Apple on the scene it certainly draws greater attention to in-car apps and now with the Android Auto standard on the scene both will certainly drive adoption of in-car apps.”

For more information, visit www.abiresearch.com.