After automakers have dispensed with the usage of cassette players inside vehicles, they are now targeting the removal of in-dash radios and the CD players. The old fashioned in-dash radios, with dials and knobs, will begin to be slowly be replaced by smart phones.
To set the ball rolling, Detroit Electric will be the first automaker that will totally eliminate the radio, as drivers and passengers will have other options such as web browsing and music streaming via their smart phones directly through their car’s infotainment system.
Giving more insight into the development, Thilo Koslowski, a vice president at technology research firm Gartner Inc. said “AM and FM as a delivering mechanism isn’t going to be the most important in cars anymore. By 2020, I feel very confident that many consumers will consume radio content through avenues other than terrestrial broadcast.”
As a move towards this direction, Ford and Lincoln drivers for instance have the MyFord Touch dashboard interface, while GM will soon fit its cars with high-speed 4G mobile-Internet capabilities. Ed Cohen, vice president of Measurement Innovation at media and marketing research firm Arbitron, said that despite all the state-of-the-art technology, 90% of adults aged from 25 to 54 still choose the radio as the in-car entertainment.
Once automakers have introduced the USB ports in the cars’ in-dash auto systems, CD players have become irrelevant. After radio, CDs are the second choice when it comes to in-car entertainment. Some vehicles have eliminated CD players to save weight and space.
