IoT devices to exceed traditional hardware by 2020 end; Report

A recent report published by market insights firm IoT Analytics has revealed that for the first time in the history of the Information Technology (IT) industry, the Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as internet-connected speakers, fridges, smart home devices, etc would outnumber conventional non-IoT connections (smartphones, laptops, and computers) by the end of the year.

The IoT Analytics report shows that out of the 21.7 billion active connected devices across the globe, more than 11.7 billion, 54 percent will be the Internet of Things (IoT) device connections as 2020 closes off.

Numbers reveal that the IoT devices market has witnessed steady growth this year despite the slowdown triggered by the ongoing pandemic.

Commenting on the future of IoT devices,  Mr. Knud Lasse Lueth, Founder and CEO of IoT Analytics stated that “By 2025, it is expected that there will be more than 30 billion IoT connections, almost 4 IoT devices per person on average.”

The market insights firm has now raised its forecast for the number of connected IoT devices in 2025 to 30.9 billion from 21.5 billion which it projected in its analysis in mid-2018.

The report cites the prominent growth of IoT adoption in China as one of the major driving forces in the rise of IoT devices across the globe.

“While in 2015, for example, Chinese telecom companies accounted for roughly one quarter (27 percent) of all cellular IoT connections, this number has shot up to 75 per cent in 2020 with China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile leading the global cellular IoT connections market,” the IoT Analytics CEO commented.

The IoT Analytics report observed that “The introduction and subsequent adoption of a new generation of ecosystem-enabled smart home devices such as the Amazon Echo led to faster adoption of connected home devices than previously assumed.”

“In 2020, this market reached 423 million IoT connections and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 43 per cent to reach 2.5 billion IoT connections by 2025,” the report summerized.