A new report from Beecham Research predicts rapid growth in the sales of M2M and wireless terminals by the end of 2019, with volumes shipped reaching 154% and 166% of 2014 levels, respectively. Cellular M2M modules are expected to reach $2.2bn in sales in 2019.
Despite the move to 3G and 4G and talk of 5G, Beecham Research says that 2G modules will continue to provide for the majority of new M2M connected devices for the next few years. This is particularly the case in Europe where there are no plans to end 2G services. But while 2G module shipments will continue to increase in volume over the period, as a percentage of total shipments they will decline from almost 80% in 2014 to just 50% by 2019
Over 90% of new cellular M2M connections are made using a module built directly into products such as smart meters, security alarms, medical devices, parking meters and connected cars systems. Compared with that, wireless terminals are defined in the report as general purpose stand-alone devices with one or more cellular network connections, such as modems, routers and gateways.
“The increasing sophistication of M2M applications is driving the need for higher speeds, including real time video in security and connected car markets and the addition of service layers on telematics applications such as job scheduling and mobile payment systems,” said David Parker, senior analyst at Beecham Research and author of the report.
“There are a number of potentially disruptive factors in the market including the timing, pricing and acceptance of new technologies like LTE-M and the rise of alternative methods of connecting objects such as mesh networks, low power wide area (LPWA) and satellite,” added Parker. “The extent to which companies operating these technologies will compete or collaborate with established cellular networks is a key topic right now.”