Why is General Motors dropping Apple #CarPlay? The answer lies in the rise of software-defined architectures #SDA now sweeping through the #auto industry. Apple disrupted phones by designing the software-defined #iPhone but then failed to see the same disruption coming in car cockpits. If SDA is the trend, what is the goal?
#OEMs are now developing their own #appstore. At #MWC in March, CARIAD launched an app store for Volkswagen Group using the HARMAN International #Ignite Store. CARIAD has received a lot of criticism in recent years for its #software #strategy but looks to have called the app store trend perfectly.
The freight train now heading towards Apple comprises Harman (a Samsung Electronics company), Qualcomm and Google. Sound familiar? That's because Samsung/Qualcomm/Google vs. Apple is the long running #smartphone battle.
Software will break many #automakers and success will come only to those OEMs that fully embrace #technology suppliers as partners. Apple knows how to dominate, but its failure in #automotive will come from not knowing how to share.
Despite the media hysteria, CarPlay will be as quickly forgotten as Motorola, Nokia and BlackBerry Messenger, as consumers experience new products and move on. The software-defined architecture is the enabler of the "smartphone-ization" of #cockpit #electronics and will require a revolution in the supply chain.
The auto industry is about to see the rise of the Tier-Zero, a total systems integrator defined by technology excellence in a specific domain, and which provides complete solutions to automakers. Magna started this trend with its Complete Vehicle Manufacturing strategy. The tier-zero is a sub-set of it.
There is a future for maybe four to six tier-zero suppliers, which will leave many traditional tier-1s out in the cold. For the cockpit, Harman already looks to be in pole position; for automated driving, the Magna International Veoneer merger looks to be ahead.
Consumer preferences for the look and feel of the interior of a vehicle are highly regionalized, even down to preferences for physical buttons vs. touchscreen controls. However, technology developments necessary to provide the features are global. Hence significant consolidation doesn’t look likely now at the OEM level, but does within the supply chain.
Overall the biggest winners here look to be Qualcomm and Google, with Apple set to fall from the tree. To succeed long term in automotive, Apple will have to learn #humility. Over to you, Tim Cook.