New UBS Warburg Study Predicts SmartMove's Open Architecture Telematics System 'The Way of the Future'
5 September 2000
New UBS Warburg Study Predicts SmartMove's Open Architecture Telematics System 'The Way of the Future'
DETROIT, Sept. 5 In one of the most comprehensive new
studies yet published on the global automotive telematics industry, UBS
Warburg LLC, a global financial services organization, predicts that
SmartMove, a Belgian high-technology vehicle telematics company, has found the
solution to system compatibility and standardization with its "Open Telematics
Framework" system.
SmartMove's open architecture system consists of a combination of hardware
and software on a single platform -- a communication control center -- that
acts as a protocol-neutral conduit between the vehicle and service providers,
offering billing, security, and software functionalities. This platform will
enable access to outside services and vehicle information.
In the just-published report, UBS Warburg notes that SmartMove uses
Java-based software to facilitate the interface between vehicle systems,
telematics products and various telematics applications. One of the current
obstacles in developing consumer-oriented products and services for use in
vehicles is hardware and software incompatibility. Another concern is that
OEMs and their venture partners, racing each other to establish their position
in this new market, are developing exclusive and proprietary systems that are
incompatible with those of other OEMs.
According to the study, SmartMove's open architecture will provide a
common standard that will allow many different carmakers to share common
vehicle telematics standards across individual company lines:
"We believe that it is ... only a matter of time until ... OEMs move
toward the open architecture system. Since open-architectured vehicles will
have access to a greater array of content and services, we believe this
transition will force other OEMs in this direction to avoid losing market
share. This could lead to a complete free market environment, where the
providers of the best content and services would be the winners," the report
says.
In addition, the study predicts that "SmartMove will lead the move toward
Java-based operating systems," in spite of the current dominance of
Microsoft's Windows CE for Automotive.
"We believe that Java, not Windows, will become the operating system of
choice, as it is more stable, flexible and secure than Windows," the study
says.
Titled "Worldwide Telematics Industry: Eyes on the Road and Hands on the
Wheel," and written by a team of global automotive and wireless technology
experts led by Saul Rubin, the UBS Warburg study is an in-depth discussion and
analysis of telematics activities in Europe, Japan and the United States.
Among the study's other conclusions are: that the total telematics market
(hardware and services) will have end-user revenues of more than $24 billion
by 2005 and $47 billion by 2010; subscription prices for telematics services
will be lower than current levels as competition increases; OEMs will insist
that telematics products be branded with the automakers' names, and not the
service or content provider's; and that the new technology will be a boon for
providers of content, wireless services and technology, including electronic
hardware suppliers.
SmartMove NV, a privately held company, was founded in 1996 and received
funding from several European venture capitalists. SmartMove holds several
international patents in the field of vehicle telematics, and employs 90
people, most of them engineers. Based in Leuven, Belgium, the company's U.S.
subsidiary, SmartMove USA (http://www.smartmove-us.com ), is located in Cambridge,
Mass.
UBS Warburg is a business group of UBS AG -- one of the world's leading
global financial services firms -- a broad-based investment bank serving
corporate, institutional and private clients. A global organization, UBS
Warburg offers market-leading advice, research, transaction execution and
distribution across all regions and time zones.
CONTACT: Wouter Piepers of SmartMove NV, +32-16-31-00-20,
+32-478-33-56-32 (cell), wouter.piepers@smartmove-eu.com ; or Barrett Kalellis
of Hedge & Company, 248-350-2190, bkalellis@hedgeco.com , for SmartMove NV/