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Alphabet (GOOGL) Bolsters Android Auto With New Update

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Alphabet (GOOGL - Free Report) is leaving no stone unturned to bolster its presence in the automobile sector on the back of its Android Auto advancements.

Recently, Google introduced a new Android Auto feature, namely “use phone’s wallpaper in Android Auto.”

Android Auto now allows users to sync their phone's wallpaper, which will appear on the car's display behind the app drawer and can be turned off in Android Auto Settings.

Alphabet is expected to gain significant popularity among car owners using the Android platform on the back of its latest move.

The latest move is in sync with Alphabet’s growing efforts to bolster its Android Auto application in a bid to strengthen its auto solutions portfolio.

Strengthening Android Auto is expected to enhance Android offerings, which have been one of the key growth drivers of Alphabet. GOOGL has rallied 60.2% on a year-to-date basis compared with the Zacks Computer & Technology sector’s growth of 53%.

Moreover, growing momentum in Android is expected to continue driving growth in the Google Services segment, which generated revenues of $67.99 billion (88.6% of total revenues) in the third quarter of 2023. The figure increased 10.8% year over year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter 2023 Google Services revenues is pegged at $74.77 billion, indicating growth of 10.2% from the 2022 level.

Android Auto in Focus

Apart from the latest move, the company recently rolled out Android Auto 11.0 for Samsung smartphones, which allows users to customize status and app icons, indicating a strong adoption of the feature by Samsung users.

Google also introduced a Google Maps feature for Android Auto, which allows users to save their parking location upon arrival at a specific destination. This feature appears on the arrival screen and is triggered by tapping the "save parking location" button, resulting in a reminder the following day.

The company unveiled new features to Android Auto that help customers identify a car as an electric vehicle (EV) and allow them to toggle on EV features within Google Maps.

Additionally, Alphabet announced that it is working on enhancing its Android Auto system with the “Assistant summarize your busy conversations” feature. This AI-induced feature will enable Google Assistant to summarize busy conversations, reducing disruption caused by excessive reading of messages.

All these efforts are expected to solidify Google’s presence in the global automotive infotainment market.

Per a Fortune Business Insights report, the global automotive infotainment market is expected to reach $49.86 billion by 2030, indicating a CAGR of 6.5% between 2023 and 2030.

Growing prospects in this promising market will likely aid Alphabet in winning investors’ confidence in the days ahead.

Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Camtek (CAMT - Free Report) , KT (KT - Free Report) and Everbridge , each carrying a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Camtek shares have returned 217.9% on a year-to-date basis. The long-term earnings growth rate for CAMT is pegged at 12.26%.

Shares of KT have returned 1.4% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for KT is currently projected at 6.75%.

Shares of Everbridge have lost 16.6% in the year-to-date period. The long-term earnings growth rate for EVBG is currently projected at 47.04%.


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