The arrival and the fast penetration of e-commerce, wireless telephony, and Global Positioning System have given birth to a new industry that is believed to change the way individuals will live and work in the 21st century - the Telematics. Telematics at present is largely associated with the automotive industry phenomenon but in the years to come telematics will also deliver real-time, portable, wireless connectivity of voice, data, video, and commerce.

The advent of the year 2000 saw the telematics showing signs of growth and rejuvenation. The market began to take off in the US, Germany and took few more years before it began to establish in other European countries. In the Asia, the Japanese telematics market is growing but has been focused on navigation systems. In 2001, almost 2 million telematics systems were built into autos that correspond to 3.5% of all autos sold. In the US nearly 11% of autos were telematics-enabled in 2001 and it accounts for over 90% of all telematics-enabled vehicles sold in 2001. It is anticipated that US share will drop speedily as telematics begins to takeoff in Japan and Western Europe.

More...

Source: Telematics