China Unicom @ Mobile World Congress 2013

Telecom Lead @ Mobile World Congress 2013: China Unicom and Airbiquity announced partnership to provide telematics services for the Chinese automotive market.

Services are scheduled to launch later this year with two customers already under agreement.

READ Mobile World Congress 2013 HERE

Assisting Chinese automotive manufacturers to implement telematics solutions, China Unicom — utilizing Airbiquity’s Choreo connected vehicle service delivery platform — will provide connected vehicle services for Chinese automotive line-fit and aftermarket programs.

Services such as infotainment and smartphone integration, commercial vehicle fleet services, CRM, and other traditional telematics services will be available.

Shipments of smartphones in China increased 61 percent YoY in Q3 2012, surging way ahead of the United States and confirming the nation’s position as the world’s largest country by volume.

With vehicle sales in China alone expected to rise from 21 million units in 2013 to nearly 34 million in 2019, the opportunity for connected car solution suppliers is huge in this region.

Richard Robinson, director, automotive at Strategy Analytics, said: “Nearly half of the vehicles sold in China will have either embedded modems or tethered device telematics capability by 2019, in spite of the lower value ‘economy’ segment accounting for over 30 percent of vehicle sales.”

[email protected]