Internet of Things (IoT) Market Size & Forecast

The Internet of Things (IoT) market is growing rapidly across industries due to the real-time data insights and automated responses that the technology can provide at scale at the user level. 

As network infrastructure continues to advance its bandwidth and low latency, IoT is also expected to become more effective and widely available. 

Read on to learn all about today’s IoT market, including the range of technologies involved in IoT and how companies are deploying IoT solutions:

A Closer Look at the IoT Market

• Internet of Things market
• Internet of Things components
• Benefits of Internet of Things
• Internet of Things use cases
• Internet of Things providers

Also read: Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) Market Size & Forecast

Internet of Things market

The IoT market reached $761.4 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $1.39 trillion by 2026, according to Mordor Intelligence. 

The growth is happening primarily in a few industrial sectors, namely manufacturing, retail, and health care, where IoT technology has been deployed to track illness and handle other logistics involved with pandemic abatement.

As global infrastructure for edge computing and 5G becomes more widely accessible, IoT is expected to be more readily available for corporate development and grow at a faster rate. Industry 4.0, the ongoing current industrial revolution that focuses on automating manufacturing processes, will also benefit from this infrastructure and use IoT technology more frequently for smart factory automation in the future.

Internet of Things components

IoT deployments work through an intricate set of technical elements:

• IoT devices: Smart devices with the ability to connect wirelessly to a network, interact with other devices and sensors, and share and receive data. Companies seek to develop the appropriate devices for their IoT infrastructure, and an increasing number of third-party devices offer built-in IoT capabilities as well.
• IoT sensors: Specialized pieces of hardware used to collect and analyze data from a particular environment. Collected data focuses on factors like temperature, location, movement, and sound.
• IoT network connection: For real-time data tracking and responses, the Internet of Things requires a reliable network connection, so software can communicate with devices and sensors. The network connection is often powered by 5G infrastructure, which offers the bandwidth, low latency, and availability for IoT to function correctly.
• IoT cloud vs. cloudless IoT: A traditional cloud infrastructure is typically preferred for IoT data because it tends to be reliable, elastic, and scalable. However, some companies have concerns about the overall privacy and security of an IoT cloud strategy. As a result, some users are going “cloudless,” or choosing edge computing, fog computing, and more privatized “mini-clouds” to avoid these issues.
• IoT software: IoT software is the interface that receives data analysis from the field of IoT devices and makes those insights available to users.

Learn more about top IoT solutions available in today’s market: 85 Top IoT Devices

Benefits of Internet of Things

Because IoT devices can track a variety of environmental factors in real-time, Internet of Things deployments offer many benefits to companies:

• Real-time, remote data monitoring
• Easy user-level data access through IoT software
• Security and safety tracking
• Resource tracking and management
• Automation of manual tasks
• Catered marketing and customer service engagement

Also read: Internet of Things (IoT) Security Market

Internet of Things use cases

Internet of Things technologies offer a variety of use cases that benefit everyone from the individual user with their smart home device to a corporate executive looking to automate operations and security procedures. 

In the following use cases, major IoT companies assisted their customers and partners by providing a deployment to automate customer experience (CX) management.

“Our guests find the robotics solutions to be fun, engaging, and useful tools for getting the information they need. They help our brand stand out and make customer visits more efficient and enjoyable. … The robotics solutions ensure our customers can get the assistance they require with minimal time spent waiting. Meanwhile, we’re reducing the burden on the concierge employees and ensuring they can focus on other high-priority tasks.” -An SVP of marketing for an Asia-Pacific mall and retail chain, on Intel IoT

“To come this far in a short time, we have used the best technology and tools to manage communication about electricity supply and consumption with our customers. We looked at which cloud provider we could grow and scale with from a technical point of view and which one would give us the biggest benefit from a business perspective. … Our differentiation from traditional energy companies centers on empowering customers, giving them insights that are simple to understand, and tech-based solutions that are easy to implement at home. To make this happen, we have to use the best technology and data analytics.” -CEO and co-founder of Tibber, an energy company, on AWS IoT and cloud infrastructure

Internet of Things providers

A variety of companies provide the components necessary for an Internet of Things deployment. 

These are some of the top providers in several IoT categories:

IoT software providers

• Intel
• Cisco
• IBM
• Amazon
• SAP
• Google

IoT cloud providers

• Google Cloud
• AWS
• Microsoft Azure
• IBM Watson
• Oracle
• Salesforce

IoT sensor providers

• Bosch
• Honeywell
• IBM
• Ericsson
• Cisco
• GE
• ARM

Other IoT solution providers

• PTC
• ABB
• Huawei
• Schneider Electric
• Belkin
• Advantech
• Bitdefender
• LG
• Nest
• Philips
• Ring
• Samsung
• Sonos
• Samsara
• Apple

Check out this resource to help you find the best IoT solution for your business: Best IoT Platforms & Software