After Hardware Shipments Drop 28% in 2020, Automakers Look to Niche Applications for the Aftermarket's Lifeline News provided by Share this article Share this article LONDON, Feb. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Sales and revenues in the aftermarket for automotive applications have been threatened by almost ubiquitous OEM embedded systems, free smartphone applications that replace automotive hardware (e.g., Waze), and inadequate retail strategies. After a drop of 28% in 2020, fostered by the COVIID-19 pandemic, aftermarket hardware shipments will grow by only 12% until 2026, finds global tech market advisory firm ABI Research. "The aftermarket landscape is undergoing a transformation. Multi-application devices struggle to deliver value to the consumer and are dying out, giving place to low cost dedicated hardware that fulfills niche customer requirements not addressed by OEM embedded systems or smartphones. Naturally, niche applications have a lower market opportunity. Thus, the aftermarket will experience market shrinking in the coming years, with more favorable circumstances in emerging economies," explains Maire Bezerra, Smart Mobility & Automotive Research Analyst at ABI Research. "With the dire projections, a portion of the market will stop shipping hardware to become Telematics Service Providers (TSPs) instead, specializing in data crowdsourcing and selling data to B2B players via data marketplaces, especially in Europe with the Extended Vehicle Concept."