The number of devices connected to the internet is expected to reach 50 billion worldwide at the end of 2030, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.
The study also reported that global IoT connections will reach 38.6 billion by 2025. Last year, there were 22 billion IoT connections globally.
Enterprise IoT remains the leading segment, accounting for more than 50% of the market, with mobile/computing at just over 25%. The report predicts, however, that the home will be the fastest growing segment over the coming years, driven by further rapid growth in smart home adoption.
Some segments such as connected computing devices will see low growth or decline, while others such as media devices will continue to expand steadily. Growth rates for wearable devices and connected vehicles will remain positive, but volumes will be modest relative to other segments, according to the research.
David Mercer, principal analyst at Strategy Analytics said: “Service providers may look at the vast scale of the internet of things and assume that revenues will automatically flow in their direction. But it remains to be seen precisely which applications and services will drive revenue growth, and how much. Furthermore, more research is needed to understand how this ecosystem will evolve to meet the needs of tomorrow’s consumers.”
“With the global connected device installed base on track for nearly 40 billion by 2025, there is a huge opportunity for semiconductor display manufacturers, cameras, memory, battery and other enabling technology providers,” said David Kerr, SVO at Strategy Analytics. “AI will become pervasive in mobile, home, automotive and computing platforms. Optimizing the user experience across multiple devices, OS and user interfaces will be a key battleground.”
In related news, another report by Strategy Analytics highlighted that edge computing is on the rise in IoT deployments and is expected to show solid growth over the coming years.
Strategy Analytics believes that data will be processed by edge computing in 59% of IoT deployments by 2025. The driving forces in this assumption are the key benefits derived from edge computing, namely more efficient use of the network, security and response time. Currently, Strategy Analytics’ end user research suggests that 44% of companies are currently using edge computing, in some form, in their deployments.
Andrew Brown, Executive Director Enterprise and IoT Research said: “While the cloud represents an increasingly common model for analyzing IoT data, enthusiasm is growing for edge computing, where data can be analyzed and filtered at the edge of the network. Doing so can lead to benefits in delivering a faster response from analyzed data. Taking a more efficient and optimized approach in terms of what data is sent to the cloud, with reductions in traffic volumes, has positive net effects both on the security of the data being sent and the cost of sending data to the cloud.”
“While edge benefits include faster response times, improved application performance, reduced network traffic, security and reduced demand on cloud infrastructure, there remain challenges that must be considered as well. These include immaturity of the current market and perceptions among customers that they have no need to change their current setup. Other issues include a lack of familiarity with edge computing for IoT environments and a lack of transparency over the additional costs that could be incurred,” said Kerr.
