- Continental, LG, and Harman together account for a majority of global TCU shipments.
- One in four TCUs shipped in 2025 will be 5G-enabled. Automakers will focus on future-proofing their cars, accelerating the adoption of 5G TCUs.
San Diego, Buenos Aires, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul – January 28, 2021
The Telematics Control Unit (TCU) market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4% during 2020-2025, with the market value surpassing $6.3 billion by 2025, according to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Smart Automotive service. The TCU data here refers to both passenger and commercial vehicles. Higher penetration of connected cars employing 4G-enabled TCUs will be visible till 2025. But with countries deploying 5G infrastructure rapidly, automakers will gradually shift to 5G-enabled TCUs having fallback compatibility to cover a wide range of connected car services with seamless network coverage.
In 2020, COVID-19 drastically impacted the already declining automotive sales in several ways:
- Automotive factories operated irregularly for many weeks and also saw employee layoffs in H1 2020. This affected the final vehicle assembly.
- Subdued consumer sentiments toward expenditure on non-essential items resulted in a decrease in new vehicle registrations. However, with vehicle purchase incentives in place, short-term recovery can be expected.
The implementation of E-call regulation in the EU initially led to a boom in TCU shipments while similar initiatives have been taken in other regions too, such as EVAK/ERA GLONASS (January 2017) in Kazakhstan and Russia, and K-ecall (2021 onwards). Other important factors driving TCU adoption include changing consumer preferences towards safety/entertainment features and the recent increase in interest in electrical vehicles (EVs), which employ upgraded TCUs for battery management and vehicle performance. For instance, GM has increased its budget for electric and automated vehicles from $20 billion to $27 billion and plans to launch 30 new EVs globally in the next five years (over 20 of them are planned for North America alone). The telematics industry is poised for growth in the coming years as automakers promote connected services to attract buyers and earn additional revenue through subscriptions.
Commenting on the TCU market, Senior Analyst Aman Madhok said, “Continental, LG, and Harman accounted for more than 50% shipments in 2020. Continental has been supplying to a variety of automakers, both luxury and non-luxury, besides having a presence in major markets worldwide. During the last few years, Continental has overtaken LG in terms of market share due to new contracts and the increasing penetration of TCUs in mass-produced vehicles. Harman bagged a contract from BMW to supply its latest 5G-enabled TCUs in 2021. Furthermore, it managed to associate with the likes of VW and Maruti Suzuki in recent years.”
Madhok added, “On the other hand, LG’s market share is declining due to its heavy dependence on GM, which has reached a saturation point in terms of TCU penetration.”
The Smart Automotive report also differentiates the embedded TCUs based on cellular connectivity. Looking from the connectivity perspective, Research Vice-President Peter Richardson said, “5G penetration is on the rise and TCU suppliers have already started to sign contracts with their respective customers (automakers) to supply 5G-enabled TCUs. Continental will lead here too. It has already won contracts to supply 5G TCUs to two European car manufactures. Continental will be followed by LG and Harman. GM’s recent bullish sentiment towards complete electrification of its vehicles and aggressive plans for employing 5G technology will benefit LG to expand its 5G portfolio. Falling prices of 5G TCUs will enable their adoption in mid-price cars, with automakers like GM, Ford, and VW leading 5G connectivity by 2025.”
The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Global Telematics Control Unit Market Tracker, 2021’ from our Smart Automotive service is available for purchase at report.counterpointresearch.com. Feel free to contact us at press(at)counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.
Background
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media, and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects, and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are experts in the high-tech industry with an average tenure of 13 years.
Analyst Contacts:
Peter Richardson
Aman Madhok
Fahad Siddiqui
Counterpoint Research
