Taiwan’s invisible champion: JET OPTO’s in-car entertainment wins hearts of top-tier car manufacturers

The Taipei AMPA and Autotronics Taipei will run at Nangang Exhibition Hall 1 until April 23, featuring nearly 600 exhibitors and 1,300 booths, a 54% increase in scale from the previous show.

This time, many Taiwanese manufacturers have shown their global leading strengths, such as the “invisible champion” of the in-car entertainment system, JET Optoelectronics (2255-TW), whose products have won praise from high-end European cars brands.

The company has also worked with Amazon to integrate the Fire OS system in cars and successfully became the leading brand of car entertainment in Europe and America.

As cars become more intelligent, consumers’ requirements for vehicle audio-visual entertainment systems have also increased.

“We like to develop special things,” said JET Optoelectronics founder and chairman Jerry Lin (林傳凱). “When the product is unique, it’s up to us to decide how to stabilize the price.”

He remarked that manufacturers in Europe, the United States and Japan selected their in-car rear-seat entertainment audio/video systems. At this point, the company has successfully entered the supply chain of top-tier car manufacturers.

“High-resolution audio and video, standard communication connection, and intelligent functions are the inevitable trends of car audio and video systems,” he added.

It has been three years since the launch of their Linux-based in-car system on the European market, he recalled. The system is highly customizable, meaning that JET Opto discusses the design interface with car manufacturers during the system development stage.

The system integrates with the vehicle’s interior through a Full HD resolution screen that can connect to a smartphone to play video and audio content and an over-the-top media service (OTT).

The customer base has been upgraded to European premium automakers. Lin said: “We are a first-tier supplier, supplying directly to car manufacturers.”

He explained that European car manufacturers do not want their cars to be tied to a specific system. Linux has successfully broken into the market because it can provide upgrades quickly, thanks to its open-source configuration.

In the face of possible security concerns about the Linux system, Lin stressed that “half of the company is RD, our Linux system is sent through OTA updates to prevent and solve the problem immediately.”

In addition to Europe, JET Optoelectronics has successfully entered the U.S. market. Only two companies have successfully cooperated with Amazon to introduce Fire OS for cars, and JET Opto is one of them.

To provide a better experience, JET Opto has significantly optimized the Fire OS interface for in-car use. The system allows passengers to quickly and easily watch Amazon Prime and various videos on other OTT platforms in the car.

Unlike the European market, customers in the U.S. have already established the habit of using Amazon directly on the car system. No adaptation period is needed, and the feature of seamless integration is the key to entering the U.S. market.

Lin also revealed, “Amazon has made a specific CPU for us, so we only need to interface with Amazon so that we can focus more on development.”
“In addition to the in-vehicle system, the two-wheeled market is also full of opportunities. Two new products, Monster cell phone holder and Hive BSM blind spot detection system for motorcycles, have won the IF design award.
The IF jury has recognized the product design, which performs well in the market. It is now actively negotiating with two major motorcycle manufacturers in Taiwan.

“The epidemic has affected the second round market, and I can’t go to other countries to discuss cooperation,” Lin said. “The market is too small if we only focus on Taiwan, and the second round market still has a challenging process to go through.

The main focus will be on in-vehicle systems in the future, but we will not abandon the two-wheeled market. We may also enter the world of self-driving cars so that in-car entertainment will be even more critical.

The in-vehicle entertainment system is ready to go, and KAI Rui Optoelectronics expects to develop more vehicles and introduce more models this year. It will expand to the national car market in addition to premium cars.

“There is no rival in the back seat entertainment system, right? He said modestly, “I don’t think we’ve seen anyone doing the same as us,” he concluded.