Connected cars are a significant area for consumer-based M2M (machine-to-machine) growth, according to new research from Parks Associates, which projects by 2017, 17.6 million consumers will subscribe to embedded connected vehicle services such as General Motors' OnStar and Chrysler's UConnect Access. The international research firm predicts 47% of all new vehicles sold in the U.S. will have embedded cellular modules by 2017.
Parks Associates' new report M2M: The Next Billion Mobile Connections examines the early market for M2M deployments in the consumer markets where multiple devices exchange data without manual human intervention, including connected cars, e-readers such as Amazon's Kindle, and wireless health devices.
Mobile network operators (MNOs) such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile see M2M as a way to diversify their revenues and secure a strong foothold in this early market, particularly in the auto industry. MNOs can leverage their relationships with module manufacturers, app developers, and consumers to provide auto OEMs with valuable integration services, thereby generating service revenues on top of network access fees.
