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Automotive Industry

Big sound: big money - WIP - Brief Article

Automotive Design & Production, May, 2002 by Gary S. Vasilash

The audio aftermarket represents a good bit of spending on auto-related products: on the order of $2-billion. According to Phil Lubell, senior marketing manager, Mobile Electronics, Sony Mobile Communications (Park Ridge, NJ), a lion's share of that market is represented by what they're calling the "Look At Me Generation," which consists of members of both Gen y and Gen X (12 to 24 and 24 to 35, respectively), the kinds of people that auto OEMs are acutely interested in. Why "Look At Me"? Because Sony surveys indicate that a key reason why young men, in particular, play their car audio systems at an ear-splitting and bone-jarring volume is so that young ladies will notice them in their tricked-out rides.

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What's interesting to realize is that in order for the aftermarket units to be put in, OEM-installed equipment must be ripped out. Which seems to indicate that OEMs might be able to pick up more revenue by installing cooler audio gear than the plain vanilla that's the norm (yes, even the high-end options are included in this statement).

Lubell says that in the aftermarket world, the average price for an in-car CD unit is $199. (Sony actually pioneered that technology in 1984.) But while the run of-the-market gear is selling at that price-point, Sony is introducing products for 2002 that start at $1,000 and go north. For example, there's the MEX-5DI CD receiver with a 4.5-in., 32,000-color thin-film transistor (TFT) screen on the face of the head unit. This allows the uploading of photos from the Internet. So instead of having to look at alphanumerics, one has the opportunity of, say, displaying J. Lo in all of her glory. There's the MEX-HDI CD receiver that includes a built-in hard drive that allows the storage of 165 hours of music from a CD collection (pop in a CD, listen and record; if you happen to end your drive before the recording is finished, just shut off the car and leave: the unit will continue recording and then shut down once the final note is transferred). This unit retails at $1,500. And there's a whole lot more.

When asked about the significant price points in the context of both (a) the age of the targeted consumers and (b) the 5X or more cost increase, Sony's Bill Lee notes that oftentimes, the cars in which these audio units are ideal for are worth less than the custom wheels that are put on the corners. He also notes that while automakers are talking about 42-v systems, some of these so-called "tuner" cars have a second battery installed just for cranking up the audio amps.

OEM electronics people ought to be tuning in to this trend.

RELATED ARTICLE: Whether it's displaying a digital shot of your gang or an album cover or whatever, this 32,000-color TFT display puts it right there, on the face of an audio head unit. When the PlayStation 2 becomes the norm for judging visual fidelity, this auto CD player does it right. Oh, yeah, it sounds good, too, once you get all of the associated speakers and other gear to really crank it up.

Automotive Industry

Big sound: big money - WIP - Brief Article

Automotive Design & Production, May, 2002 by Gary S. Vasilash

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