Report: In-car displays to go up in number, size, price

You looking at me?(Credit: CNET Networks)

Here at CNET Car Tech we make our living fiddling around with evaluating in-car displays designed to show everything from GPS navigation maps to DVD video to rear-view camera input. Fortunately for us, a report out today from Research and Markets on the production of in-car TVs in China suggests we'll have plenty of work for a long time to come. Citing "overseas demand and an expanding domestic market", the report suggests that exports of in-car TVs are set to increase by 20 percent in the coming months. It predicts growth in all five in-car TV segments, including flip down, headrest, in-dash, standalone and sun visor car displays, and suggests that car-based screens sizes are also on the rise--from eight inches to ten. Adding to the boom in in-car TVs is a strong demand for in the domestic Chinese market, which will apparently account for the sale of more than a million in-car TVs in 2009 alone.

In line with the increased demand for LCD panels from automakers--as well as from other electronics sectors such as the expanding portable navigation and digital photo-frame markets--the report predicts that prices of displays will also increase by 5 to 10 percent. This last figure may be cause for concern among some automakers--such as Infiniti, BMW, and Acura--who have started to include LCD displays as standard equipment in their models, irrespective of whether customers opt for upgraded media or navigation packages.