In its new report, “Connected Car Market Data,” research firm ABI research states that the installed base of embedded OEM and Aftermarket connected car systems will grow to 189 million at the end of 2011. The report is part of is part of the recently launched Connected Car Research Service.

In designing cost-effective, upgradeable, and easy-to-use embedded solutions and bringing them to the market rapidly, car OEMs and Tier One suppliers are still facing multiple challenges. Others, such as Toyota, are looking to adopt cloud-based systems to achieve cost and scalability advantages, while vendors such as Continental, Saab, and SAIC Roewe and the GENIVI consortium are pinning their hopes on open source operating systems such as Android (News - Alert) and Linux, the company stated in a press release.

ABI Research telematics and navigation group director Dominique Bonte said, “Despite all the hype about hybrid and smartphone-based telematics solutions, embedded connected car systems still have a bright future. On the OEM side, solutions such as GM’s OnStar and Hyundai’s Blue Link offer more reliable safety and security functionality such as emergency calling. Similarly, embedded aftermarket systems for insurance telematics, road user charging, or stolen vehicle tracking offer the best performance.”

The company’s “Connected Car Market Data” offers detailed forecasts of embedded, hybrid, and converged connectivity solutions including subscribers, service revenue, and hardware shipments and revenues. To retain control over the user experience, safety, and monetization opportunities of next generation vehicles, automotive OEMs need to develop a solid connected car strategy as an absolute priority as the “connected lifestyle” era continues to gain momentum especially with younger users.

Recently, the company published another report where it stated that the smartphone market is expected to trigger GPS growth. With smartphone sales set to exceed expectations, the original GPS cellular forecast has been raised by more than 20 percent. While GPS is associated with Tier One smartphone OEMs, the non smartphone LBS market will resort to using other location technologies.

Want to learn more about M2M technologies? Then be sure to check out the M2M Evolution conference, collocated with TMC’s (News - Alert) ITEXPO West 2011, taking place Sept. 13-15, 2011, in Austin, Texas. The M2M Evolution Conference is for those industry professionals interested in capitalizing on a rapidly growing segment of the telecom industry. The M2M Evolution Conference embraces the any-to-any strategy of the Internet today. Co-sponsored by TMC Partner Crossfire Media, it showcases the solutions, and examines the data strategies and technological requirements that enterprises and carriers need to capitalize on a market segment that is estimated to grow to $300 Billion in the year ahead. To register, click here.