ABI Sees New Industry Players Setting a Tone of Continued Growth In Fleet Telematics

Business Wire, April 12, 2006

OYSTER BAY, N.Y. -- Several new entrants to the commercial telematics market give an early indication of the high market growth expected for the coming year, according to new findings from ABI Research.

"The past quarter has been a very busy one for commercial telematics," says Frank Viquez, Director of ABI Research's Transportation Research practice. "Several new market entrants have thrown their hats in the ring, which should make for a very busy year in this industry."

These include (among others) TomTom, which launched its TomTom WORK fleet telematics solution for Europe. In North America, truck component and systems suppliers Bendix and Eaton will be providing plug-in support for telematics control units in heavy trucks. Meanwhile in India, the nation's first OEM-installed commercial telematics system became available from Tata Motors and Taco MobiApps.

In North America, capacity constraints in the trucking industry have created a boom for rail intermodal shippers, but they were unprepared for the new influx of business. Rail shippers form the most unreliable link in the intermodal supply chain, and without performance and delivery guarantees their customers will look to other avenues for their time-sensitive shipments.

Railroad operators would need to double or triple the amount of track in place across major routes to meet increasing capacity requirements. Although the use of telematics would help bring efficiencies and improve the level of quality of their service, railroad operators have some of the lowest ROIs in the industry. As a result, they may be the least likely to adopt any telematics solutions.

On the trailer tracking front, smaller and relatively new players such as GE Equipment Services and SkyBitz continue to bolster their positions through several new customer wins, giving serious competition to established players such as QUALCOMM and Terion.

ABI Research's Commercial Telematics Research Service examines these issues, surveys the entire commercial (fleet) telematics industry, and provides insight into other major market developments. This subscription service includes research reports, market updates, and a user-searchable forecast database. Ancillary technologies such as cellular, satellite, DSRC, Wi-Fi, UWB and RFID are also analyzed for their potential. Subscribers also receive analyst inquiry time and ABI Research's ABI Insights.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations that support annual research programs, intelligence services and market reports in transportation, wireless semiconductors, broadband, and energy. For more information please visit www.abiresearch.com, or call 1.516.624.2500.