Car App Market Set to Grow from 12 Million to 4.3 Billion by 2018

 Automotive  

Car makers have intensified their development of in-car-apps in recent years as smartphone integration increases for cars. As Jordan Perch finds, the car app market has seen a massive growth, and is set to grow even further in the future, with the number of downloaded car apps expected to reach 4.3 billion by 2018.

In-car connectivity has become one of the most important attributes of a car in the past couple of years, and consumers are increasingly interested in cars that can satisfy their need for constant connectivity. That's why many car makers have intensified their collaboration with app development companies, in order to stay ahead of the competition by implementing more useful apps in their cars and offering increased smartphone integration in cars.

With this in mind, it is no wonder that the car app market has seen a massive growth, and is set to grow even further in the future, with the number of downloaded car apps expected to reach 4.3 billion by 2018, a huge surge compared to the 12 million downloads in 2012.

Related articles Chevrolet Now Producing Siri-Equipped Cars  Will Google Make Their Own Car?  How Car Dashboards are Turning Into Computers

The market for in-car apps is expected to be worth over $1.6 billion by 2018, so app developers are right to consider the auto industry as the next area that they can take over. It's easy to understand why mobile apps have become so important for the auto industry. Car apps provide multiple benefits for consumers, manufacturers, dealerships, and virtually everyone else involved in this sector. Car owners get all sorts of information, such as real-time traffic and weather updates, locations of car dealers or gas stations. There are apps that allow you to compare car specs and prices, as well as fuel prices, get navigation directions, calculate your car's fuel consumption and track its performances, and many more things, that can make your car rides more convenient, help you save money on gas, and make your car more fuel-efficient.

Automobile apps are of great importance to car manufacturers and dealerships, too, which can use them to increase brand loyalty, increase revenues, advertise their products and services, and provide potential customers with information regarding promotions and discounts much faster and in a more straight forward way. All this helps connect automotive companies and consumers on a more personal level, and allows consumers to be more involved and engaged in the car buying process.

Practically all major car makers have added apps to their dashboards, such as General Motors, Ford, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW, to name a few. Services such as Pandora or Rhapsody, are available in millions of cars, as they have partnered up with about 20 car manufacturers that offer these apps as standard features in their vehicles. It's projected that by 2018, over 60 million connected cars will be on the streets across the world, which opens up a number of opportunities for app developers.

These developments have led to some sort of competition between software development companies and car manufacturers. As it has become obvious that the potential revenue that can be gathered through offering consumer technology in cars is not to be overlooked, car makers have started developing apps on their own, so that they don't have to buy third-party apps, which would decrease their profits. Ultimately, the growth and the increased competition within the in-vehicle app market should make in-car infotainment systems more affordable, which means that consumers will be the ones who will benefit from these developments the most.


SOURCE  Markets and Markets

By Jordan Perch

Subscribe to 33rd Square

Author bio:
Jordan Perch is an automotive fanatic and “car tech” specialist. He is a writer for DMV.com, which is a collaborative community designed to help ease the stress and annoyance of “dealing with the DMV”.