M2M Market to Boom
In recent years, given the high-speed development of mobile internet, M2M technology has been out of machines, extending to machine-to-man, and man-to-machine. Meanwhile, with the support to Internet of Things, M2M is rapidly growing in security, auto, industrial inspection and automation applications as well as other traditional segments; and shows prospect in emerging medical health, electric vehicles and smart energy management.
According to data from IDC, M2M will accelerate the growth speed in next ten years. Market researcher Garter also predicts the market size of cellular M2M will increase to $9.9 billion from $3.6 billion with growth rate of 22.6% from 2011 to 2016.
“As globalization needs more intelligent city, the large-scale application of M2M technology is necessary. This kind of demand opens a large business opportunity, promoting the development of security, medical health, payment terminal, smart grid, smart energy remote maintenance monitoring, tracking systems, digital signage, automotive industry, eCall vehicle rescue, electric transportation,” said Axel Hansmann, Gemalto M2M business and marketing vice president.
In the future, robust growth will be seen in China and automotive area. Based on the forecast of Pyramid Research, China is expected to overtake the US to become world’s largest M2M market, with total growth exceeding 40%, reaching 45 million; and the figure further will come to 138 million by 2017.
As for automotive market, it is becoming a stable vertical market. Driven by global automotive manufacturers promoting zero failure, high-quality and long-life products increasingly gain traction. Along with the encouragement of passenger vehicle from legislation such as European Energy Efficiency Directive and eCall, the more than 5-year-lifecycle M2M devices are good choice.
In addition, smart grid is also a contributor. From the US and China to Europe, smart grid projects are ramping, providing a major impact to M2M growth. Strategy Analytics foresees 104 million cellular M2M modules in 2013.