Automotive head-up display market set to quadruple

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The new research, Automotive HUDs: Innovations, Strategies & Leaders 2016-2021, found that the market will be driven by increased adoption in mass-market vehicles, with growth boosted by aftermarket HUD sales. Juniper believes that the market will begin to accelerate in 2017 as more OEMs integrate HUDs into their medium segment cars and predicts that around one in eight new vehicles will come with an OEM-fitted HUD by 2021.

AR-HUDs to transform the market

AR (augmented reality) is the most exciting advance in HUD innovation with navigation and ADAS safety warnings being the biggest opportunities. The availability of sophisticated AR content could be a game changer leading to an upswing in HUD installations if drivers perceive value to the technology.

However, cost and technical challenges remain which, coupled with production delays, mean that AR-HUDs will account for less than 6% of the OEM HUD market by 2021.

As more content is added, there is a danger of information overload for the driver, particularly in the case of smartphone-based aftermarket HUDs, where vendors seem keen to add infotainment-type content in a bid to make their products look as appealing as possible to potential customers.

“At present, there is a legal void with respect to what type of content should or should not be displayed on HUDs,” said research author Gareth Owen. “The NHTSA is currently studying HUD displays and plans to issue guidelines soon which could hit aftermarket HUD sales in the coming years.”

Other key findings:

• Growth in the automotive HUD market could be impacted by AR glasses, which could reduce demand for HUDs, particularly in lower cost vehicles.
• It's anticipated that AR-HUDs could replace the centre-dash stack in the long term.

The report forms part of Juniper’s ongoing analysis of connected cars and telematics. A whitepaper, ‘Head-up Displays - The Road Ahead’, is available to download together with further details of the full research.