Fleet management and trailer tracking system shipments are expected to reach 6.4 million by 2016, according to ABI Research (News - Alert).

Though the commercial telematics systems shipments will grow at a CAGR of 27 percent, the fleet management industry still faces structural problems. The most critical of them include extreme levels of fragmentation with too many “me too” and “dots-on-a-map” providers and proprietary solutions littering the landscape.

The emerging global players in the commercial telematics industry include Qualcomm, TomTom (News - Alert) Business Solutions, Mix Telematics, Daimler Trucks, Volvo Trucks, Digicore / Ctrack and Trimble.

“The commercial telematics industry faces aggressive consolidation which should ultimately result in the reduction of the hundreds of vendors into at most ten major global players,” said Dominique Bonte, telematics and navigation group director, ABI Research, in a statement. “This process is already well underway with recent mergers and acquisitions including Masternaut and Cybit, Trimble (News - Alert) and Punch Telematics, and – most recently -- Trimble and PeopleNet.”

ABI Research suggests that consolidation will be effective only when technical and commercial integration is achieved. The technical and commercial integration process can take years. The industry also needs to opt for open software approaches, scalable Software as a Service (SaaS (News - Alert))-based platforms, telematics standards, and new business models.

The global players’ far-reaching willingness to cooperate across the whole value chain in the form of partnerships will also be important for the segment, ABI Research said in its report called “Commercial Telematics Market Data.”

The report contains forecast data per region on hardware shipments, hardware revenue, system users, subscribers and service revenues in the commercial telematics sector. Statistics on vehicle sales and vehicles in operation are also included.

Recently, C.J. Driscoll & Associates said that Latin America is a large market for fleet and consumer vehicle tracking solutions and the market is poised for continued expansion. The vehicle park in Latin America totals over 77 million, including 22 million commercial vehicles. By 2030, the vehicle park is projected to grow to 120 million.

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