Digital Lifescapes

The Internet of Things (IoT) is transforming industries by enabling vast networks of devices to collect and share data. This data empowers businesses to optimize operations, gain deeper insights into customers, plus develop new products and services. However, a significant hurdle to IoT adoption lies in the limitations of terrestrial networks. Cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity often falter in remote locations, hindering the potential of IoT in these areas. This is where satellite IoT steps in, offering a compelling solution for connecting devices in geographically isolated or underserved regions. Satellite IoT Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the Satellite IoT market is expected to reach a value of $4 billion by 2030. This forecast growth surge is driven by: Reduced Launch Costs: The space industry is witnessing a dramatic decrease in launch costs due to advancements in reusable rockets and launcher technologies. This makes it more cost-e...

Vending in its earliest known form dates back to 215 BC in ancient Egypt, where a device has been identified that dispensed holy water at places of worship when a coin was deposited. In the U.S. market, vending is generally conceded to have begun in 1888 with the Adams Gum company and their penny gum dispensing machines. Today, the vending machine industry is a global phenomena, and it is now part of the growing Internet of Things (IoT) connected device market opportunity. There are more than 17 million vending machines worldwide. The world's vending operators have either installed or are now considering adding Internet connectivity. The global installed base of connected vending machines grew by 18.4 percent to 1.16 million units in 2014, according to the latest market study by Berg Insight. Around 0.56 million of these machines have been installed in North America, whereas 0.15 million of the machines were located in Europe. The number of connected vending machines in ot...

The substantial financial upside opportunities associated with nascent M2M services has attracted the attention of mobile network operators globally risks being thwarted by the growing security concerns in M2M applications. Porous security is exposing vulnerabilities in a large number of use-case scenarios, including SCADA systems, telemedicine, and telemetry. Most M2M applications are lacking the basic security requirements that have been a defacto standard for information and communication technologies elsewhere. If not addressed sooner, this weak link could throttle the successful adoption of M2M in healthcare, industrial installations, and consumer homes, according to the findings from the latest market study by ABI Research. "The markets ability to respond to these security challenges at the application level is still underdeveloped," says Michela Menting, senior analyst in cyber security at ABI Research . When faced with security requirements, the focus has be...

The rapidly evolving global machine-to-machine (M2M) device market is largely characterized by cellular module shipments and connections. Moreover, some regions are clearly growing much faster than others. The cellular connection revenue in China -- which constitutes more than one-third of the Asia-Pacific (APAC) M2M market -- is expected to grow from $642 million in 2011 to $2.76 billion in 2016. "China’s latest economic five-year-plan has placed the Internet of Things as a key, strategic national industry initiative for the country," said Jake Saunders, vice president of forecasting at ABI Research . Mobile network service providers have made significant progress through 2011 in terms of developing technologies, unified platforms, applications, and strategic cooperation. China Mobile started M2M development early, positioning it as its third wave of its long-term business offerings. It has also moved into developing M2M standards and promoting economies of scale, po...

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 ...

Modernizing the legacy electrical grid systems around the world is long overdue, with many parts of the grid more than 100 years old. Undertaking this huge transformation hasn’t been easy to accomplish or attainable at a low cost. Not only does the world’s electrical system require updates due to age, but as usage increases, and the building of more power plants becomes more difficult, upgrading the "Smart Grid" becomes a requirement, not an option. Deploying the smart grid requires hundreds of millions of smart meters. Worldwide, smart meter deployments continue to grow, driven in large part by very large deployments in China where new In-Stat research forecasts that the deployment of smart meters will reach 280 million by 2016. “The smart meter is at the heart of the smart grid transformation, and even though infrastructure and customer education are also important, in these early days it’s all about the smart meter,” says Allen Nogee, Research Director at In-S...

Worldwide cellular wireless M2M (machine-to-machine) connections are growing steadily, and are expected to exceed 297 million in 2015. According to ABI Research , their prior forecast of about 225 million connections by 2014 has now been raised to 232.5 million. However, there are many regional differences in the growth pattern. Europe continues to account for the largest regional share with 110 million connections in 2015; North America will rank second with 79 million and the Asia-Pacific region third with almost 66 million. "The major world regions show different drivers for cellular M2M markets. The European market is the most diversified and has the most mature deployments. The EU benefits from regulatory mandates surrounding eCall and smart energy," said Sam Lucero, practice director at ABI. In North America the focus has traditionally been more on telematics, although M2M is now growing strongly in other areas including smart energy. Both telematics and energy ar...

In 2015, shipments of fixed wireless terminals (FWT) and cellular routers will total nearly 13 million, according to the latest market study by ABI Research . Their research included market analysis for industrial terminals, business gateways, telephony adaptors -- all relatively mature markets showing stable modest growth -- and the newest market segment, mobile broadband routers, which will contribute the greatest increase in shipments. "While they share underlying technologies, these devices or applications perform different roles and are used in diverse environments," says M2M practice director Sam Lucero. Industrial terminals, as machine-to-machine devices, benefit from the growing business and government interest in telemetry and telematics. Business gateways now offer viable alternatives to DSL-based services and are increasingly used in remote branch offices. Telephony adaptors connect local analog voice phone systems to the world via a cellular network -- the...

Wireless cellular network M2M (Machine-to-Machine) module shipments approached 28 million in 2009, and according to the latest market study by ABI Research , they will quadruple to exceed 114 million in 2015. The M2M category is a market showing strong growth for both mobile service providers and wireless systems vendors, but not all segments of it are benefiting equally. "Not so long ago, it appeared likely that M2M would be making liberal use of the EDGE cellular air interface standard," says ABI practice director Sam Lucero. "However, market data suggests that EDGE has not become the technology of choice for many M2M vendors." EDGE is in some ways a logical option for M2M applications. A 2.5G technology, it operates in the same frequency bands as the GSM/GPRS wireless standard, but with greater spectral efficiency and lower cost. Since many M2M use cases don't require 3G speeds and bandwidth and not all carriers have 3G spectrum licenses, EDGE would s...

Broadband services continue to be in high demand, attracting millions of new subscribers worldwide each month, and enabling new applications, according to the latest In-Stat market study. In-stat projects that Automatic Meter Reading (AMR) and smart energy will be the leading applications for 802.15.4 and ZigBee wireless sensor networks. Other growing application segments include consumer electronics, building control, industrial process control, and residential automation. ZigBee, through its impressive marketing efforts in the U.S., has owned the largest mind share in the wireless sensor networking space for the past several years. However, a host of proprietary software stacks are being used in applications where ZigBee offers more than what is required by the specific applications, the high-tech market research firm says. "A large number of technologies are being used for countless applications, with ZigBee usage becoming more focused on the fast-growing smart energy applicati...

Continued strong growth in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications markets will see about 95 million cellular M2M modules shipping in 2013, according to the latest ABI Research market study. Regarding shipments to the three main market segments -- telematics, telemetry, and wireless local loop -- about 34 million devices are expected to be for telematics and 39 million for telemetry. According to senior analyst Sam Lucero, "Until about 2011, the major market growth will be found in the telemetry segment, since it encompasses a broad range of applications including smart metering, POS terminals, and remote monitoring and control applications." After 2011, we expect to see a spike in telematics applications. These exist now, but from 2011 will be driven more quickly by mandates such as Europe's eCall initiative, which will see cellular connections in every vehicle, and in North America by a much stronger competitive reaction to OnStar -- virtually of the major automakers wi...