Admittedly, this may be a bit of a stretch but perhaps the next revolution in wearable devices is as close as your garage. That car (or pickup truck) we climb into every day could be seen as–well a mobile device, and yes–something we “wear”.
Think of an astronaut climbing into a bulky space suit and you get my meaning, with big names like Apple, Google, Microsoft and others keeping an eye on the pulse of this new Auto display market segment that left niche market status long ago. Now, GM is reporting a sales boost in the already heated new car market here in the USA from its cars supporting the popular Apple CarPlay (Middleware) that brings iOS to perhaps the ultimate mobile device.
GM dealers are reporting it’s Chevy brand cars dominate the Apple CarPlay-enabled space with some 27 vehicles that support the Apple iOS There’s power in the familiar as GM’s Chevy Division is betting on Apple’s popular iOS look and feel found in CarPlay to help boost car sales in the US and worldwide Source: The Guardian.commiddleware with a look and feel familiar to millions of Apple iPhone, tablet and Apple watch users world wide. Both companies are betting on the familiar OS that brings an iPhone screen directly to the car display. The thinking is that it will help eliminate the distraction of complex navigation and unfamiliar menu schema that currently frustrate new car buyers forced to use a touch screens for screen navigation and other car HVAC functions.
While there is no direct correlation between Apple CarPlay and car sales, in September, GM reported it’s Chevy brand enjoyed six month of retail sales and market share gains as the parent company (GM) sold 7.2M cars in the first nine months of 2015. That included sales increases in four of GM’s five largest markets including N. America, where Chevy truck sales were up 17% in the USA and Chevy’s crossover sales (from other brands) hitting a whopping 24% in the period. A Wall Street Journal article today quoted a car dealer Jerry Seiner in Salt Lake City saying CarPlay “…helps close the deal once they [new car buyers] see it.”
The future of car connectivity
CarPlay is just one in a myriad of options available to car makers looking to move into the “mobile device” space. Perhaps more importantly, the connected car implications go well beyond the display, infotainment or even HVAC control inside the car. It’s not just customer convenience and OS familiarity but ultimately the promise of transporting the isolated vehicle into a connective web of mobile peers sharing telematic data car-to-car, (vehicle to vehicle or V to V) and even car to infrastructure. This can include vehicle to vehicle communication based on Wi-Fi and GPS data that allows cars to “see” other cars in the network, collision warning and brake support applications and the IOT (internet of things) idea. Vehicle to roadside infrastructure (V to I) is now being tested in some geographies.
Apple Maps found in its Carplay middleware has same look as on iOS devices world wide, Source: Fortune MagazineSuffice it to say the internet and connected devices are in their infancy, and it’s only natural to see this play out in the car market here in the US and worldwide. And beyond the car cockpit, just one look at the show floor at CES is enough to convince even the most hardened skeptic that cars as consumer electronic “devices” are here to stay with life changing (hopefully life saving) implications for all of us to enjoy. Steve Sechrist
