Sony threatens Clarion for best-in-class car entertainment

BOSTON, USA: A recent analysis of automotive entertainment by Strategy Analytics found that Sony’s brand power and its recently announced partnership with Ford will challenge the current entertainment leader, Clarion, in providing consumers with the best-in-class experience in automotive entertainment. Details may be found in “Benchmarking the Premium In-Vehicle Experience,” from the Strategy Analytics Automotive Consumer Insights Service.

Strategy Analytics also found that Bose could dominate in automotive communication due to their strong brand and compelling experiences, if they were to develop a Bluetooth headset. Not surprisingly, Tom Tom and Garmin ranked highest for delivering a premium navigation experience. These findings are based on quantitative surveys with automotive consumers and user experience research.

“These findings show that Sony, with their tremendous brand perception in automotive entertainment, extensive presence with both OEMs and in the aftermarket and their new partnership with Ford, will provide a real threat for Clarion, which currently provides compelling experiences and innovative products, but lags in consumer brand perception,” commented Chris Schreiner, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics.

Kevin Nolan, Vice President of the Strategy Analytics User Experience Practice, added, “In automotive communications, the falling brand perception of Motorola and Nokia is opening the door for Jabra, Plantronics and other non-OEM vendors.”