A look at IoT in 2016
Editor’s Note: With 2016 now upon us, RCR Wireless News has gathered predictions from leading industry analysts and executives on what they expect to see in the new year.
The “Internet of Things” transforms our economy, society and how we live our lives. From the clothing we wear to the cars we drive and homes we live in, our world is being dramatically reshaped. While a connected world is not going to happen overnight, 2016 will bring many significant changes to the IoT market.
A look at the Internet of Things in 2015
Over the past year, tech giants have taken big steps to create platforms and languages for the IoT.
In May 2015, Google moved deeper into IoT with Brillo, its new IoT operating system, and Weave, a new common language designed to enable connected devices to talk to one another. This means your connected light bulbs, smart locks, intelligent thermostat and anything else in your IoT can talk to one another. Weave is available cross-platform so a smartphone running Brillo can turn on an oven on another platform.
At the CES 2015 event, Samsung declared it wanted an entirely open ecosystem for connected devices so they all speak the same language. In September 2015, the South Korean tech giant rolled out its first “SmartThings” product line, allowing users to receive important notifications about what’s happening at home, control smart devices with a simple tap and automate their homes to react to their unique preferences.
While Weave and SmartThings certainly pushed the IoT market forward in 2015, most connected devices are still living at the early adopter phase and are not yet ready to cross the chasm into mainstream adoption on their own.
Moving toward mass market adoption
According to Mike Lanman, SVP of enterprise products at Verizon, “Despite the exciting potential, IoT is still too complex, too fragmented, too expensive to connect and too hard to scale.”
IoT devices have matured to the point where they work well when they stay in their own lane, but problems arise when consumers attempt to manage all of these devices from a central hub. Your Amazon Echo, for example, can’t speak to your Nest thermostat, and this lack of interconnectivity is a significant barrier to mainstream adoption. Platforms must emerge that enable people to interact with all of their connected objects naturally. While that consolidation has yet to occur, we will see more movement in that direction in 2016.
Other hurdles to mass adoption include challenges related to energy consumption, functional capabilities and costs. Consumers don’t yet see the need or value for a smart refrigerator or washing machine. The limited set of perks these smart devices offer don’t justify the cost of replacing expensive “dumb” appliances.
The significant gap that exists between IoT standards and platforms means educating consumers about the inherent value of connected devices and how to use them will be a big area of concentration in 2016. That knowledge is key to moving connected devices and IoT beyond the 15% of early adopters to mass market adoption.
Many of the companies introducing connected devices don’t understand the role of a channel approach (retail, social, e-commerce, etc.), and instead try to go direct to consumer. In the new year, channels will play a huge role in the education and adoption — not just the selling — of these technologies and simplifying them for the consumer.
Connected health for care anytime, anywhere
With the healthcare IoT market segment poised to hit $117 billion by 2020, according to MarketResearch.com, the industry is going to have significant impact on personal healthcare over the next year.
According to a 2015 HRI survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers, millions of American consumers will have their first video consults, be prescribed their first health apps, and use their smartphones and wearable devices as diagnostic tools for the first time in 2016. These experiences will make the dream of anywhere, anytime care a reality, thus fueling innovation across the market.
As in years’ past, wearable devices for health and fitness will continue to be a hot topic in 2016, but the focus will shift to insights provided by the technology, rather than just numbers. While consumers currently use devices like Fitbits to track their personal fitness, health practitioners will soon be able to monitor patients’ body temperature, heart rate, oxygen levels and more through wearables shared via the cloud. Then, they can schedule visits or order prescriptions on a more efficient basis.
One of HRI’s main findings was the use of health-focused apps doubled between 2013 to 2015, from 16% to 32%. Despite this growth, health apps and connected medical devices were underutilized in 2015, but advances in wireless technology in 2016 will result in greater adoption by those using them for primary care and chronic disease management.
One example of a company using a combination of connected devices to deliver personal health programs is Royal Philips. In September 2015, the Netherlands-based company announced the first in a series of personal health programs said to empower consumers to take greater control of their health. Each health program comprises connected health measurement devices, an app-based personalized program and secure, cloud-based data analysis.
Upcoming growth in the market
Research shows IoT is a near-future reality for IT organizations across many industries. Gartner forecasted 6.4 billion connected “things” will be in use in 2016, which is a 30% increase from 2015. In 2016, 5.5 million new things are predicted to connect every day.
Gartner also estimated IoT will support total services spending of $235 billion in 2016, which is up 22% from 2015. Services are dominated by the professional category (in which businesses contract with external providers in order to design, install and operate IoT systems), however connectivity services (through communications service providers) and consumer services will grow at an even faster pace.
It has been encouraging to see the growth in IoT despite the lack of consumer education, universal standards and intuitive, interconnected platforms. With a focus on these three key areas, IoT is poised to see its biggest year in growth and adoption in 2016.
Editor’s note: Omar Khan is a recognized leader in the mobile industry, known for his foresight and ability to recognize new trends in order to innovate and lead companies to success. During his time at both Samsung and Motorola, he was a key player in leading the shift from feature phone to smartphone. Khan was responsible for moving NQ Mobile from a products company to a services-based company. He has been a part of numerous pivotal shifts in the mobile industry, particularly on the hardware side, and understands the dependence that software has on hardware. Now, as president of the nation’s largest Verizon Premium Wireless Retailer, he is able to share his expertise from a consumer perspective and articulate how to drive mass market adoption in shifting IoT from interesting to valuable.
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