Airbiquity, a connected vehicle services business in Shanghai, announced a partnership to provide telematics services for the Chinese automotive market. This would allow them to leverage Airbiquity’s Choreo connected vehicle service delivery platform and China Unicom’s telecom infrastructure and service provider capabilities, according to a recent report.
The partnership will increase the broadness of services for both companies in the field of connected vehicle solutions, subsequently helping automotive manufacturers throughout China to quickly implement the latest telematics solutions.
Smartphone integration, CRM and commercial vehicle fleet services are just a few of the telematics services to be offered through the partnership.
“Airbiquity is delighted to partner with China Unicorn of Shanghai to expand its connected vehicle services within China,” said Kamyar Moinzadeh, president and CEO at Airbiquity. “With GSM and WCDMA business in 31 provinces and regions, as well as broadband and ICT infrastructure throughout the country, China Unicorn [has become] a leader in connectivity solutions. Bringing that industry leading level of service into the car across China is an intelligent next step in a rapidly expanding market.”
This is a sign that China is becoming increasingly involved in the telematics industry, with R&D projects set to take off in 2013 and 2014.
In Q3 2012, shipments of smartphones in China increased to 61 percent YoY, rising above the United States and establishing the nation’s position as the world’s largest country by volume. Paired with expanding automotive production and sales, Airbiquity and China Unicorn will be extremely well positioned to bring top-notch telematics services to a quickly expanding market.
“With vehicle sales in China alone expected to rise from 21 million units in 2013 to nearly 34 million in 2019, the opportunity for connected car solution suppliers is huge in this region,” said Richard Robinson, director, automotive at Strategy Analytics. “Our research highlights that nearly half of the vehicles sold in China will have either embedded modems or tethered device telematics capability by 2019, in spite of the lower volume ‘economy’ segment accounting for over 30 percent of vehicle sales.”
Edited by
Braden Becker
