Growth Opportunities for In-Vehicle Software Spending

Industry Convergence between Consumer Electronics, IT, and Automotive Players to Create Major Value Add for Nearly Half of All Vehicle Software in Use

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) used to differentiate their products based on mechanical features. Today, however, consumers increasingly want features defined by software, such as driver assistance, connectivity, and comfort-convenience services. The convergence of technology areas including electrification, autonomous driving, shared mobility, and connectivity is causing OEMs to migrate from the traditional hardpoint-defined architecture to a software-oriented architecture. These trends are reshaping customer expectations and forcing OEMs to address them in new-generation vehicles, thereby turning vehicles into software on wheels.

Similar to the mobile phone industry, the automotive industry is experiencing a sort of rebirth. Increasingly, industry participants are spending more R&D budget on software development and turning themselves into software companies. OEMs will deploy different strategies to develop proprietary software based on their capabilities, some developed in-house and others co-developed with partners.

This study includes research, analysis, forecasts, and an overview of industry spending on in-vehicle software development. It aims to provide an overview of trends impacting software development and a discussion on the impact these trends have on the growth, deployment, and R&D strategies of different OEMs, suppliers, and industry stakeholders.