Consulting and analytics firm Gartner released a prediction today, projecting that a quarter-billion connected cars will be on the road in 2020. The company notes that on-board Internet connectivity is starting to trickle down from premium models to mid-market cars.
Gartner’s news release is broadly framed within the “Internet of things” trend, which refers to online connectivity embedded in many kinds of appliance. Car dashboards have been merging with consumer electronics for several years. This month’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES, Las Vegas in early January) was substantially swayed by companies and products related to digital dashboards.
“The increased consumption and creation of digital content within the vehicle will drive the need for more sophisticated infotainment systems,” said James F. Hines, research director at Gartner.
That means audio, for the most part, where broadcast radio, Sirius XM, and online audio jockey for position on new dashboard screens. Today, Internet connectivity is often accomplished with plug-and-play — the user connects his or her phone to the dashboard’s audio head unit. There will be a user segment that prefers that method, or doesn’t have a car with built-in connection, even as rolling WiFi increases. Gartner’s prediction is for cars with factory-installed Internet access.
“Gartner forecasts that about one in five vehicles on the road worldwide will have some form of wireless network connection by 2020,” according to today’s announcement.