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Is QNX working so deep into the OEM automotive electronics that they are not seen as a natural competitor to Apple and Google?
Automotive News had an interesting article yesterday:
http://www.autonews.com/article/2016...autonews-daily
An interesting point: "Nobody wants to sell a $50,000 car that's dependent on a $500 phone."
Posted via CB10
Do you know what OS is running on your "smart" washing machine? Or on your "smart" coffeemaker?
QNX is in the background allowing all the components work together (in most, but not all cars). What most the headlines are taking about are the User Interfaces... CarPlay, Android Auto and many others. While QNX does have their own UI, it's just not a "brand" people recognize.... so it just doesn't get used much.
Yeah, I kind of get that.
But, Intrix's proposal is to supply a custom (unique?) UI to each auto manufacturer. The intent being to differentiate the 'brand' from the others. In contrast to the uniform Apple & Google interfaces.
I thought that that would have been within QNX's scope.
The bigger part of Intrix's proposal is that they will create an SDK for third party content providers and app developers to build content for these cars. That's an interesting idea, and something that Ford was working on also. Is QNX working directly with 3rd party developers on something like this?
Here's the thing: car manufacturers HATE the idea of giving control of their cars to ANYONE. They write their own custom UIs rather than using QNX's default UIs for the same reason that Android OEMs write their own skins instead of using stock Android: they want to differentiate themselves so they have something unique. They don't want someone who buys a Ford Focus to have the same system in the dash that you get in a Mustang GT or Expedition (higher-end cars), and they certainly don't want you to have the same thing you're going to get in a Chevy or a Dodge. They also don't want to give a vendor like QNX any more power and leverage than they already have.
It's the same reason why manufacturers constantly change stereo OEMs - they don't want JBL or Bose or Alpine to get too much influence, and they want to remind them that they can be replaced at any time and need to compete well if they want the business (and keeping costs low is a big part of that).
The problem for car manufacturers is that buyer are coming into showrooms and asking for Apple Car Play and Android Auto by name, and are making buying decisions based in part on the availability of those interfaces. That's a problem for manufacturers wanting to maintain control, but they're getting enough pressure from customers that they don't have much choice but give in. Toyota is trying to hold out, but when they have customers walking out of the showroom to head to Honda or Ford or Nissan, they're going to cave - and I'm sure they've already got contingency plans to install Car Play and Android Auto.
QNX looks like they get about $7-8 per car. That's small potatoes, but it's enough to generate some good profits for (what was) a small company with low costs. The QNX division definitely makes money for BB, but compared to BB's size and historical revenue, QNX is only a drop in the bucket.
While QNX is arguably the best OS for the applications it is used for, it is not the only OS available, and it's too easily replaced if BB pushes too hard - and no customer would ever know the difference, because QNX isn't user-facing.
Further, QNX isn't a "general use" OS - it's an engineering OS best used for specific tasks, as it is today. It's been designed for that, and it sells relatively well for those markets that need it, but they're relatively small markets (to date), with the auto division being by far the largest market. The car market isn't going to grow 1000%, though - it's a fairly stable and mature market.
First - I erred with the company's name: it is INRIX. Sorry.
Troy, you make good and valid points. Especially, that of the customers asking for a phone specific UI by name.
I suppose that I believed that the door Inrix is using would have been known by QNX and firmly closed.
Everything in the automotive industry points to "connectivity" being the next great differentiator. Cars are our largest purchase in the IoT.
Absolutely right - but manufacturers are desperate to maintain as much control over this as possible. One, because they don't want other companies having leverage over them, but also Two, because they want as much user/driver data as possible.
This is why they don't like Car Play or Android Auto - much of the control and the data is bypassing them. But because customers are demanding it, they have to give in. But be assured they are working to duplicate the data and find a way to get that data back to the home office, and future cars will be designed to do that, even if the owner is using Car Play or Android Auto.
So I have sync3 in my new Expedition. I held out for a 2016 because I wanted QNX.
But only people on CrackBerry have any idea what that is. Nowhere in the car or in the owner's manual is QNX mentioned.
Sync 3 could use some tweaking, but I do enjoy using it.
9000 > Q10 > Z10 >Z30>Z30>
Will it have or can I have it with "the" home button?
;-)))
� There's a Crack in the Berry right now... �
It's standard equipment on the AppleCar.