Some dealers are seeing increased demand for larger 12-inch-plus ‘Tesla-style’ radios and they are hoping to see them offered by a Tier 1 vendor.
LinksWell, which has been a leader in the market, said demand for the category is increasing. It’s now offering 15.6 inch models starting at about $1995. The first run sold out in three days.
BOSS is shipping later this month a 14 inch model with wired CarPlay and Android Auto. Then, under the MAP protected BOSS Elite line, new 12- and 14-inch models are due by the end of the year. The Elite models add wireless CarPlay/Android Auto and SiriusXM capability. They include the 12 inch BE12ACP.WX at $629 and the 14-inch BE12ACP.WX at $729.
BOSS’s Doug Kern said, “Our 10 inch has done well and people want bigger.”
Alpine said it has no plans at this time to offer 12-inch plus radios, and KENWOOD said it has no plans to announce any radios in this segment at this time.
One supplier noted that while the market is growing, it is still a niche category. And where a smaller company can prosper selling lesser quantities, a Tier 1 company needs greater volumes, which is hard to accomplish selling vehicle-specific radios.
RDV, which recently entered the Tesla-style segment specific to a few luxury vehicles, said the market is growing as the radios become more reliable. Retailers said the same.
“This is the number one call we get when someone is looking for a new radio,” said Harvey Wright of Autosound, Inc, KY, adding, that demand is not limited to truck owners but SUV, sedan and especially European sedan owners.
“I think the ease of a Google search shows people all the choices [for larger radios] quickly. The problem is usually they don’t take into account the trim levels, (amps, optical interface etc), which in turn causes them to not work at all or not correctly. But the call is for sure for these type of units,” Wright added.
More than half the dealers we polled said customers come in their shops with 12-inch plus radios ordered on Amazon from off brand Chinese companies. These have apps that don’t necessarily work well and there are no customer service departments for the dealers to call for trouble shooting.
LinksWell said this hurts other suppliers. “Believe me. We have been fighting this battle since day one. We have our own factory in China. We do all of our product development and testing here in the US on US vehicles,” said Detlefsen. But dealers and consumers a like have been burned by the off brand products.
Kelly Kirschner of Performance Auto Sound, WA said, “We’re seeing so many people that are buying stuff off Amazon and its just Chinese crap,” referring to vehicle specific 12-inch radios. “I would love to see major manufacturers delve into that. I don’t know if they will or not. It would be great because there’s a demand for it. People want it and they are using the crap that often doesn’t work and has reliability problems and you can’t get any tech support. It certainly doesn’t help the industry if people have terrible experiences with it.”
Soundcrafters Paul Papadeas says Tier 1 suppliers are “behind the 8 ball on that.” He agreed that the radios ordered off Amazon that come directly from China, “are nothing more than a tablet with a bezel that fits their car. The apps don’t seem to work well with each other. There’s one issue after another. No tech support…”
Mehdi Narimanian of Sound of Tri-State, DE said, it’s a matter of quality. If all features are equal then some consumers will want the extra large screen. He said, “12 inch radios do create excitement on the floor as long as their functionality is good.”
Photo: LinksWell 15.6 inch XL radio
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Would love to see these from a good manufacturer. Been let down so far by literally every single one I’ve installed. Some don’t work immediately, some fail soon after.. Currently we’re turning them all away. Most common we see the cheap ebay/aliexpress ones anyway.
The only brand we haven’t tried, if I recall, if Linkswell. I’d give it a shot if it came through the door. But Phoenix and all those no name brand ebay specials we don’t touch.
Alas with a good name brand backing it it would probably be very expensive (like alpine restyle) and really the market for these is the people who want wow factor for <$1000. I don't think they would sell.. at least not in my area. Results may vary.
Linkswell the only way to go!! In house techs(4 of them), actual software engineers in the building, owner in the building, and has been an amazing company to work with the last 2 years. Marketing Pros Inc is 100% believers. Keep up the great work Linkswell Inc.!
I agree with JV. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE develops these radios properly that are available today. In order to properly interface a large tablet radio into the vehicle, you would need access to the factory data platform which NO ONE has. Only TIER 1 OEM contract companies like the big 3 in the audio electronics realm have access to this data and you heard in this article they have no intention of making these. There you have it. Its a great concept and for some vehicle trim options, the data stream is so basic, you can get away with it but for the most part you will be chasing your tail. Keep that in mind when you make the decision to go down this path or not.
“KENWOOD said it has no plans to announce any radios in this segment at this time.”
strategic ambiguity is a powerful tool.
A misconception from dealers and consumers about these android radios is that they are easy to develop. Most if not all are made with a cellphone SoC which do not qualify for CarPlay or Android Auto Certification. Has anyone checked if the Linkswell units are CP/AA certified? Further more, these units are not tested for in-vehicle specifications such as temperature (-40ºF – +130º). If a tier 1 supplier were to make such units they would be well above $3000.00 price range. If that many dealers really want these units be sure to contact you tier 1 suppliers and let them know how many of these units you can sell yearly.