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Connected cars are set to play a major role in the Internet of Things (IoT), according to technology research firm Gartner, which has forecast there will be 250 million connected vehicles on the road by 2020.While 4.9 billion connected things will be in use this year, up 30 per cent from last year and reaching 25 billion by 2020, connected cars will be a big component in the rush towards all-embracing connectivity, with Gartner forecasting the proportion of new vehicles equipped with internet capability “will increase dramatically” over the next five years.
Connected cars, and the potential for services such as automated driving, have become a major focus for car manufacturers, with the technology on display at this year’s CES pointing to the connected future.
The Gartner forecast amounts to about one in five vehicles on the road worldwide having some form of wireless network connection by 2020, which it states will impact upon the areas of telematics, automated driving, infotainment and mobility services.
James F. Hines, Gartner research director, noted the connected car “is already a reality”, with wireless connectivity “rapidly expanding from luxury models and premium brands, to high-volume mid-market models”.
“The increased consumption and creation of digital content within the vehicle will drive the need for more sophisticated infotainment systems, creating opportunities for application processors, graphics accelerators, displays and human-machine interface technologies,” Hines commented.
“At the same time, new concepts of mobility and vehicle usage will lead to new business models and expansion of alternatives to car ownership, especially in urban environments.”
Meanwhile, Gartner has additionally forecast the connected kitchen will deliver “significant benefits” to industries including retail, healthcare and insurance, while also “significantly addressing sustainability issues”.
Gartner further noted there is still “no coherent set of business or technical models for the IoT”, with it set to remain as such through to 2018.
“Many standards and ecosystems for the IoT are still in development and some of the vendors and ecosystems may fail during the working lifetime of current IoT projects,” commented Alfonso Velosa, Gartner research director.
“CIOs will need to ensure their prime system integrator has a strategy to future-proof their project. This is especially critical if the project involves infrastructure that may be in the field for decades. A gateway-based architecture will be a key approach to future-proofing IoT projects.”
