2017 Roundup Of Internet Of Things Forecasts

The last twelve months of Internet of Things (IoT) forecasts and market estimates reflect enterprises’ higher expectations for scale, scope and Return on Investment (ROI) from their IoT initiatives. Business benefits and outcomes are what drives the majority of organizations to experiment with IoT and invest in large-scale initiatives. That expectation is driving a new research agenda across the many research firms mentioned in this roundup. The majority of enterprises adopting IoT today are using metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) that reflect operational improvements, customer experience, logistics, and supply chain gains. Key takeaways from the collection of IoT forecasts and market estimates include the following:

Bain predicts B2B IoT segments will generate more than $300B annually by 2020, including about $85B in the industrial sector. Advisory firm Bain predicts the most competitive areas of IoT will be in the enterprise and industrial segments. Bain predicts consumer applications will generate $150B by 2020, with B2B applications being worth more than $300B. Globally, enthusiasm for the Internet of Things has fueled more than $80B in merger and acquisition (M&A) investments by major vendors and more than $30B in venture capital, according to Bain’s estimates. Source: Bain Insights: Choosing The Right Platform For The Internet Of Things

• According to IDC by 2018, investments in Operational Sensing through IoT and situational awareness via analytics will deliver 30% improvement in Critical Process Cycle Times.IDC also predicts by 2019, at Least 40% of IoT-created data will be stored, processed, analyzed, and acted upon close to, or at the edge of, the network. Source:IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Internet of Things 2017 Predictions, 7 pp., PDF, no opt-in.
• Cisco predicts there will be 3.3B Machine-to-Machine (M2M) global connections by 2021, increasing from 1.5B in 2018. In 2017, Cisco predicts 1.1B M2M connections will be in place globally. M2M’s rapid adoption is the result of manufacturing, industry & logistics and utilities all adopting IoT-based strategies across broader segments of operations through the forecast period. Source: Statista, Number of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) connections worldwide from 2014 to 2021 (in billions).

• The global IoT market is projected to grow to $661.74B by 2021. The Industrial IoT market is expected to grow to $123.8B by 2021, and the IoT Cloud Market is estimated to grow to $7.15B by Source: IoT Growth: A Forecast.
• WiFi and Bluetooth low energy (BLE) are top contenders as preferred IoT connectivity mechanisms. However, long-range, wide-area networks (LoRaWAN) and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) are equally poised to give a tough fight to WiFi and BLE vendors. Data analytics, correlation, and pattern recognition capabilities at point-of-data creation prove to be a key decision factor in vendor evaluation. Source: IDC Survey Reveals Significant Impact of Internet of Things Initiatives on IT Infrastructure.
• Global IoT spending will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6% over the 2015-2020 forecast period, reaching $1.29T in 2020. The industries forecast to make the largest IoT investments in 2016 are Manufacturing ($178B), Transportation ($78B), and Utilities ($69B). Consumer IoT purchases, the fourth largest market segment in 2016, will become the third largest segment by 2020. Source: Internet of Things Spending Forecast to Grow 17.9% in 2016 Led by Manufacturing, Transportation, and Utilities Investments, According to New IDC Spending Guide.
• IDC predicts that by 2021, global IoT spending is expected to total nearly $1.4T in hardware, software, services, and connectivity that enable the IoT. IoT use cases gaining the greatest investments in 2017 include Manufacturing Operations ($105B), freight monitoring ($50B), and production asset management ($45B). Please see the source document for additional details on IDC’s forecast. Source: IDC, Worldwide Spending on the Internet of Things Forecast to Reach Nearly $1.4 Trillion in 2021, According to New IDC Spending Guide.
• Gartner predicts by 2020, more than 65% of enterprises (up from 30% today) will adopt IoT products. By 2020, more than 10% of new IoT products from traditional industries will be headed by the CIO. Through 2020, a lack of data science specialists will inhibit 75% of organizations from achieving the full potential of IoT. Source: Gartner, Leading the IoT, Gartner Insights on How to Lead in a Connected World, PDF, 29 pp., free, no opt-in.
• 72% of the companies will increase their IoT spending in the next three years. A solid amount of companies plan to keep this increase between 10% and 30%, while some of them are willing to raise spending by more than 30%. Source: Cognizant Trend Study: Digital Industrial Transformation with the Internet of Things: How can European companies benefit from IoT?
• According to IDC, worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) is forecast to reach $772.5B in 2018, an increase of 14.6% over the $674B that will be spent in 2017. IoT hardware will be the largest technology category in 2018 with $239B going largely toward modules and sensors along with some spending on infrastructure and security. Services will be the second largest technology category, followed by software and connectivity. Source: IDC Forecasts Worldwide Spending on the Internet of Things to Reach $772 Billion in 2018.

10 Predictions For The Internet Of Things (IoT) In 2018 2017 Internet Of Things (IoT) Intelligence Update Bain Insights, Three Ways Telcos Can Win On The Internet Of Things [Infographic] Bain Insights: Choosing The Right Platform For The Internet Of Things Big Data & Analytics Is The Most Wanted Expertise By 75% Of IoT Providers Cambridge Consultants, Review of latest developments in the Internet of Things, 7 March 2017, 143 pp., free, no opt-in. Cognizant Trend Study: Digital Industrial Transformation with the Internet of Things: How can European companies benefit from IoT?