Wireless M2M Growth Projections

M2M Industry Segments

Analysts project significant growth numbers for the M2M market.  M2M or machine-to-machine is the market for wireless embedded chips that can send data to a central server.  By the year 2020 there are projected to be billions of connected devices. At the end of 2010 roughly 80 million subscribers were using of M2M technology. That number is set to rise to 300 million subscribers by 2015 according to research done by Berg Insight. Europe and North America currently dominate the number of connected M2M devices and are expected to continue through 2020.

Looking even further ahead the projected growth of M2M will hit 2.1 billion by 2020, and about 1 billion will come from utility companies, says Tracy Ford with RCR Wireless News. Utility companies are jumping on the concept of M2M technology to efficiently monitor and regulate services to clients.

“With many leading wireless service providers and utility companies looking to profit from the M2M opportunity and the growing support from US federal and state governments, M2M applications in smart grids have tremendous potential for growth. The smart grid is expected to provide a major boost to the M2M industry in the next few years.” GlobalData

AT&T is set to hit the mark of 10 million connected M2M devices first in the cellular race to adopt M2M technology to smart phones. “AT&T and T-Mobile currently see their M2M subscriber bases increase by 10 to 20 percent per quarter, while Verizon and Sprint are slower,” says Tobias Ryberg analyst for Berg Insight.

Nearly all high value assets will have wireless embedded chips in the future.  These chips can be sensors that relay data on their location, status, condition, etc.  Companies will need to determine how best to manage these devices and mobile data feeds in the future.  Axeda, recently announced a free cloud-based solution for managing companies' M2M environments.

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Kevin Benedict, SAP Mentor, Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst
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Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility consultant, mobility analyst, writer and Web 2.0 marketing professional. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.