It's Only Common Sense: Why the Best Years of Electronics Are Still Ahead of Us
Dan’s Biz Bookshelf: ‘The Soul of a New Machine’
According to a new research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight, the active installed base of connected cars based on embedded connectivity worldwide reached 338.0 million at the end of 2025. Growing at a CAGR of 11.5 percent, the number is expected to reach 583.1 million by the end of 2030. Moreover, Berg Insight forecasts that shipments of cars equipped with embedded connectivity will grow from 72.6 million units in 2025 to reach 82.6 million units in 2030. The attach rate will at the same time increase from 83 percent in 2025 to 91 percent in 2030.
Today, most OEM offerings focus on a set of core propositions including safety, convenience and entertainment services that are made available as standard or paid subscriptions. “Carmakers are increasingly bundling core services for free for extended periods to boost brand loyalty and ensure a large portion of cars have active connections. This strategy enables the collection of big data to enhance product development processes and to make sure that the cars perform well over the whole lifetime”, says Martin Cederqvist, Senior Analyst at Berg Insight.
Car manufacturers rely on services provided by mobile network operators, MVNOs, connectivity management platform providers and connected vehicle software and platform providers. Mobile operators and MVNOs such as AT&T, Vodafone, China Unicom, China Mobile, KDDI, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Verizon, Telefonica, Telenor, América Móvil, Singtel, Tele2, Airnity, Cubic3, Lenovo Connect, NTT and TATA Communications are leading connectivity providers in the automotive segment. Connectivity management platforms is also an important part of the connected car ecosystem enabling features such as provisioning, subscription management, cost monitoring and event management. Leading connectivity management platform players in the automotive industry include Cisco, Aeris, Airlinq and Lolo Company.
Connected vehicle software and platform providers support OEMs in the development, deployment and operation of connected car services. “The category includes connected vehicle platform providers offering cloud back-end, vehicle-to-cloud connectivity, OTA updates, diagnostics, data management and service orchestration capabilities. It also includes automotive technology suppliers providing infotainment, telematics, digital cockpit, voice assistant and connected services software”, continued Mr Cederqvist. Leading providers in this segment include Beijing Yesway Information, Bosch, Cerence AI, Forvia, Harman International, HERE Technologies, Mapbox, PATEO, Sibros, SiriusXM Connect, Sonatus, TomTom, Valtech Mobility and WirelessCar. There are also companies specialising in building connected car services and applications upon connected car data. Examples of leading companies include Caruso, High Mobility, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Motorq and Smartcar.
Berg Insight also expects data consumption from connected cars to increase steadily. The average connected car consumed an estimated 6.2 GB of data in 2025. This figure is expected to reach 10.1 GB in 2030. Most connected cars still use relatively small amounts of data, but the mix is changing as more vehicles support data-heavy infotainment services, app ecosystems and OTA updates. At the same time, localisation requirements, new eSIM specifications such as SGP.32, 5G RedCap and satellite connectivity will shape the next phase of automotive connectivity. “OEMs increasingly need connectivity solutions that support local operator profiles, long vehicle lifecycles, lower-cost 5G migration and service continuity beyond terrestrial mobile network coverage”, concluded Mr Cederqvist.
