You may have noticed a lot of new cars are coming with navigation. Sales of OEM navi units soared 70 percent in North America last year, said IMS Research.
The market went from 1 million units in 2009 to 1.7 million units in 2010. Although growth this year will be a more temperate 17 percent, predicts IMS Research.
In the aftermarket, in-dash navigation fell 5 percent last year, with some consumers opting for a simpler in-dash DVD player instead.
Aftermarket in-dash navigation will decline again by about 9 percent this year in North America, predicts IMS. Sales last year hit 212,000 units, down from 223,000 in 2009.
Market share on the OEM side puts Harman, Clarion and Denso in the top 3 suppliers (but not necessarily in that order) with a combined 60 percent share, according to IMS’s “The Future of In-Car Navigation – World – 2011.”
The OEM navigation numbers includes cars outfitted at the car dealership with navigation, but it doesn’t include OnStar and the basic Ford Sync systems.
Source: IMS Research
One other point to note, they are making the units part of the packages, so if you wanted say “bi-xenon headlights” you get the nav unit, also on certain models of vehicles, namely the VW, you have to take the nav unit if you want the headlights and sunroof, otherwise a standard touch screen unit is what you get. The more they package it in with other things, this less choices you get.
What needs to happen is that these units are replaceable in the future, without HAVING to use the factory piece. Which most of us know, isn’t going to happen. However this is where the real shops of the world will rise above the mass merchants, and hack shops. Forget headunits in the new car, OEM integration is the next future of our industry.