The telematics sector will outperform all other M2M markets over the next five years (in revenue terms) with one in five passenger vehicles connected globally by 2019, according to tech analyst firm Juniper Research.
It forecasts that the M2M sector will generate service revenues of over $40 billion globally by 2019 - doubling the size of today's market.
The new research, 'M2M & Embedded Devices: Strategic Analysis & Vertical Market Forecasts 2015-2019', observed that the roll-out of smart metering initiatives will see rapid up-take over the next six years, driven in part by governments' ambitions to increase efficiency. According to research author Anthony Cox, "Both India and China are expected to see rapid adoption of smart metering as new metering infrastructure is installed and smart cities are created."
The utility sector, however, is not expected to generate similar revenues to that of the connected automotive sector.
Agriculture and environmental applications are starting to emerge as important new sectors in the M2M market, with applications as diverse as wild-life and farm animal monitoring, and increasing productivity through precise field mapping.
M&A is also beginning to bring together some of the industry's most powerful players, such as the merger of KORE Telematics and Raco Wireless, and the acquisition by Huawei of the M2M technology start-up Neul.
In other key findings the US remains the leading geographical region for M2M, ahead of Western Europe. China is becoming increasingly important as initiatives by the Country's major carriers begin to take shape.
And the implementation of Big Data analytics will play an increasingly important role, particularly in areas such as telematics, smart metering and healthcare, says Juniper.