One Fifth of New Cellular M2M Connections Will be in Asia by 2019

In an announcement made June 29, Juniper Research reported that it expects the Far East and China region to account for 22 percent of all global cellular M2M connections by 2019, which is a substantial increase from 2014, when it was at 15 percent.

The new research, called “M2M & Embedded Devices: Strategic Analysis and Vertical Market Forecasts 2015-2019,” found that concerted efforts by China’s major carriers, particularly in smart metering and connected cars, will account for the rise of connected devices in China. It also reported that, despite Asia’s major gains, the M2M markets in North America and Western Europe will still have the lion’s share of connected device revenues.

“China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile have all made strides to embrace M2M,” said Anthony Cox, author of the research, Juniper Research. “In many cases, they are providing end-to-end solutions, supported by systems integration and dedicated charging policies.”

The research said that the surge in market share was partly due to the State Grid Corporation of China getting ready to spend $68.7 billion in smart grid technologies during the next year. The report also noted a trend of movement from a loose network of connected devices toward fully inter-connected ecosystems. It also claimed that increasing interest in ‘white space’ spectrum would in turn enable the number of M2M modules to proliferate, thanks to lower costs and power requirements.

Other key findings include: a forecast that the global M2M sector will deliver service revenues of over $40 billion by 2019; M2M in agriculture increasing in importance for monitoring farm animals and increasing productivity through precise field-mapping; and M2M will continue to be the basis of the infrastructure necessary for emerging IoT applications.

To engage with full analysis of research like this, be sure to attend IoT Evolution Expo, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from August 17 to 20.