Industry News

Daimler-Benz and BMW have led the way in the use of POF in automobiles. Over 1 million POF nodes were installed in "S" line Mercedes-Benz automobiles in 2000. The number has increased to 55 million by the end of 2007, in 50 different models of cars,from the low end to the high end.

Late in 2000,sixteen European automakers ratified the "MOST" standard, which specifies POF for data networks in automobiles. By developing a standard that is accepted by 16 European manufactures, suppliers can produce to the same standard for 16 customers and thus can obtain economics of scale. There is tremendous pressure by the automakers on their suppliers to reduce prices. This will have a major impact on all sectors of the POF industry to realize the promise of POF's low cost! Japanese and America automakers are developing their own standard. A version of 1394 has now been developed by the 1394 Trade Association(1394TA) and the IDB(Association of Automotive Suppliers). This digital multimedia data bus standard IDB-1394 will operate at speeds up to 400/Mbps.