Skip to main content

Upside Opportunity for M2M Reaches $35B by 2016

The M2M market has become a fully mainstream segment of the mobile network service provider industry. By the end of 2011, most major mobile operators in North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region had established M2M business units to focus their efforts in this fast growing market.

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, the market for cumulative cellular M2M connections will rise from about 110 million connections in 2011 to approximately 365 million connections by 2016.

This increase represents a compounded annual growth rate of about 27 percent by 2016 -- and translates to about $35 billion in connectivity services revenue.

The two largest cellular M2M market segments over the forecast period, by revenue, will be automotive telematics and smart energy.

Automotive telematics, including factory-installed systems such as GM’s OnStar service, aftermarket services such as usage-based insurance, and fleet management systems, will together represent more than $15.5 billion in 2016.

Meanwhile, smart energy, specifically cellular connectivity to smart meters and data concentrators, will represent more than $7.5 billion in 2016.

"As mobile operators further develop their M2M service offerings, software platforms and M2M application developer support will feature as increasingly larger components of the operators’ services," says Sam Lucero, practice director, M2M connectivity at ABI Research.

For example, AT&T announced on January 9, 2012 that it would be reselling Axeda’s M2M application platform in a U.S. carrier exclusive deal. This platform will enable AT&T customers to more easily develop and deploy complex M2M applications.

Popular posts from this blog

The Smartphone Market's Premium Pivot

The global smartphone market closed 2025 with a story less about recovery and more about transformation. Premium product, ecosystem lock-in, and manufacturing scale are now the forces shaping competition. For business and technology leaders, the latest IDC market study data confirms that smartphones remain a critical indicator of consumer demand, supply chain health, and AI commercialization at the edge. Smartphone Market Development Global smartphone shipments grew 2.3 percent year-over-year in Q4 2025, reaching 336.3 million units and bringing full-year volumes to 1.26 billion units — a modest 1.9 percent annual increase, according to IDC. This smartphone growth emerged despite a memory shortage crisis, tariff volatility, supply chain disruption, and macroeconomic headwinds. What stabilized demand? Two factors: sustained growth in premium devices and strong foldable momentum, combined with accelerated purchases as consumers bought ahead of anticipated price increases. Buyers weren...