The Growth of Automotive Network Access Device Modules and China's Leading Role in 5G

TapTechNews July 12th news, the market research organization Counterpoint Research released a report yesterday (July 11th), stating that during the 10 years from 2020 to 2030, the cumulative shipments of automotive network access device (NAD) modules will exceed 700 million, and it is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13%.

Research analyst Subhadip Roy said when talking about the expected growth of connected cars:

We are now entering the era of Automotive 2.0, characterized by significant changes in powertrain (electrification), safety and mobility (autonomy), cockpit and infotainment (digitization), and all these changes will be driven by advanced connectivity single-threaded that supports software-defined vehicles (SDV).

The advanced 5G connection technology will catalyze this transformation with higher bandwidth, capacity and lower latency, thereby enabling various location-based services such as real-time battery management system (BMS), integration with high-definition/AD maps and streaming infotainment. It will also enable low-latency C-V2X and data and sensor-assisted autonomous driving.

Currently, 4G Cat4 access technology dominates the NAD module market and can meet the speed requirements of original equipment manufacturers' remote applications.

However, as the demand for the next-generation SDV continues to grow, 5G will become the dominant technology for L3+ ADAS/ADS cars, and 5G RedCap will replace 4G Cat4 for connected cars at L2 ADAS and below, mainly focusing on OEM telematics and light streaming infotainment.

TapTechNews attached the information of senior analyst Parv Sharma as follows:

China has been at the forefront of the SDV era, starting from electrification and digital cockpits and enabling autonomous driving functions in most new cars. This adoption and scale not only benefits China but also the entire automotive value chain.

For example, in 2023, the shipments of NAD modules in China accounted for nearly one-third of the total shipments, and among every 10 cars shipped in China, 8 were connected. It is expected that by 2028, the connected penetration rate of passenger cars will reach 100%.

China is also in the leading position in 5G application. In the first quarter of 2024, 20% of the NAD modules shipped in China had 5G functions.