Global M2M Subscriber Base Tops 100M
Sweden’s Berg Insight says the global number of mobile network connections used for wireless machine-to-machine (M2M) communication increased by 37 percent in 2011 to reach 108 million, with Asia-Pacific leading the way.
That region recorded a year-on-year growth rate of 64 percent, reaching 34.5 million connections by year-end 2011. Europe and North America grew by approximately 27 percent each, to 32.3 million and 29.3 million connections, respectively.
In the next five years, the global number of wireless M2M connections is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.2 percent, perhaps reaching nearly 360 million in 2016.? ?
“2011 was the year when M2M communication really took off in China. The number of wireless M2M subscribers in the country nearly doubled and is now estimated to exceed 20 million,” explains Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst. ”We believe that China Mobile became the world’s largest M2M connectivity provider at the end of 2011, with around 14 million subscribers. If the trend continues, the Chinese market will surpass the United States in absolute terms within two to three years”.? ?
The research firm expects that 2012 “will be another positive year for the wireless M2M industry. A renewed interest in telematics technology from the global automotive industry has already had a positive effect on demand and promises to generate very significant additional volumes over the next years.”
Overall, the enterprise M2M market will benefit from increasingly advanced service enablement platforms that facilitate the integration of enterprise applications and networked remote devices, it adds.?
