Boston, MA - April 27, 2006 -- The new Strategy Analytics report, "Automotive Displays - Position and Information Content are the Key Issues Not Screen Size," concludes that decreasing LCD costs and increasing availability of new features on in-vehicle navigation, entertainment and driver information systems are the key factors that will drive automotive display shipments to 32 Million units by 2012.

However, the critical challenge for automotive companies is the display location in the cockpit, in combination with what information should be shown and easily accessed on the display, as opposed to the size of the screen in the car. Safety will be an increasing design factor since driver distraction is a key concern for regulators, car makers and consumers. Strategic Human Machine Interface (HMI) questions still remain over the role of displays and instrumentation clusters, compared to voice technology and haptic, touch button controls.

"Color display scale economies resulting from the explosive demand in portable and wireless device and home consumer electronics markets are now being passed onto the automotive sector. Lower display costs, together with increasing availability of new features on in-vehicle infotainment systems, will result in a strong market for full color displays," says Joanne Blight, Director, Automotive Practice. "We are seeing a lot of market adoption of touch screens from companies such as Alpine, Nissan and Toyota, as well as Head-Up Displays (HUDs) which are available from BMW, GM and Siemens VDO. These display products are starting to address some of the safety, design aesthetics, customer appeal and driver information issues that automotive companies need to tackle seriously in terms of HMI strategies."