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Internet of Things Statistics

January 1, 2021 by Martin De Saulles

Finding “reliable” data about the installed base of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, market size and forecasts is not easy and can be expensive if you have to buy a commercial market report. However, there is quite a bit of free data out there which I have collated here. Creating IoT stats is notoriously difficult depending on accuracy of models, assumptions and definitions. Forecasts need to be treated very cautiously. However, by looking through a range of estimates from different providers it should be possible to get a rough idea of how the IoT market may look in the next few years. I have focused on providing links to the original sources where possible.

Feel free to contact me if I have missed anything and I’ll amend the list. (Updated 1 January 2021)

Internet of Things Statistics


Title: Worldwide Spending on the Internet of Things Will Slow in 2020 Then Return to Double-Digit Growth

Date: 18 June 2020

Author: IDC

Summary: “Worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) has been significantly impacted by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, although a back to double-digit growth rebound is expected both in the mid and long-term. A new update to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Internet of Things Spending Guide shows IoT spending growing 8.2% year over year to $742 billion in 2020 down from 14.9% growth forecast in the November 2019 release. Nevertheless, IDC expects global IoT spending will return to double-digit growth rates in 2021 and achieve a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.3% over the 2020-2024 forecast period.”

Graphic:

idc iot internet of things spending

Link: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS46609320


Title: Gartner Says 5.8 Billion Enterprise and Automotive IoT Endpoints Will Be in Use in 2020

Date: 29 August 2019

Author: Gartner

Summary: “Gartner, Inc. forecasts that the enterprise and automotive Internet of Things (IoT) market will grow to 5.8 billion endpoints in 2020, a 21% increase from 2019. By the end of 2019, 4.8 billion endpoints are expected to be in use, up 21.5% from 2018.”

Graphic:

gartner iot endpoint market 2020

Link: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2019-08-29-gartner-says-5-8-billion-enterprise-and-automotive-io


Title: IDC Forecasts Worldwide Spending on the Internet of Things to Reach $745 Billion in 2019

Date: 3 January 2019

Author: IDC

Summary: “Worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) is forecast to reach $745 billion in 2019, an increase of 15.4% over the $646 billion spent in 2018, according to a new update to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide. IDC expects worldwide IoT spending will maintain a double-digit annual growth rate throughout the 2017-2022 forecast period and surpass the $1 trillion mark in 2022.”

Graphic: iot forecast 2019

Link: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44596319


Title: Gartner Identifies Top 10 Strategic IoT Technologies and Trends

Date: 7 November 2018

Author: Gartner

Summary: “Gartner forecasts that 14.2 billion connected things will be in use in 2019, and that the total will reach 25 billion by 2021, producing immense volume of data.”

Link: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2018-11-07-gartner-identifies-top-10-strategic-iot-technologies-and-trends


Title: IDC Forecasts Worldwide Spending on the Internet of Things to Reach $772 Billion in 2018

Date: 7 December 2017

Author: IDC

Summary: “Worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) is forecast to reach $772.5 billion in 2018, an increase of 14.6% over the $674 billion that will be spent in 2017. A new update to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide forecasts worldwide IoT spending to sustain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4% through the 2017-2021 forecast period surpassing the $1 trillion mark in 2020 and reaching $1.1 trillion in 2021.”

Graphic: 

iot forecast 2018

Link: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS43295217


Title: IDC Says Worldwide Spending on the Internet of Things Forecast to Reach Nearly $1.4 Trillion in 2021

Date: 14 June 2017

Author: IDC

Summary: “Worldwide spending on the Internet of Things (IoT) to grow 16.7% year over year in 2017, reaching just over $800 billion. By 2021, global IoT spending is expected to total nearly $1.4 trillion as organizations continue to invest in the hardware, software, services, and connectivity that enable the IoT.”

Graphic: internet of things market share 2017

Link: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS42799917


Title: Gartner Says 8.4 Billion Connected “Things” Will Be in Use in 2017, Up 31 Percent From 2016

Date: 7 February 2017

Author: Gartner

Summary: “Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 8.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2017, up 31 percent from 2016, and will reach 20.4 billion by 2020. Total spending on endpoints and services will reach almost $2 trillion in 2017.”

Graphic: 

gartner iot statistics 2017

Link: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3598917


Title: Winning in IoT: It’s All About the Business Processes

Date: 5 January 2017

Author: Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

Summary: “Our analysis uncovered three major findings. One, there is no such thing as “the” Internet of Things: today’s market is heavily driven by specific use case scenarios. Two, while in the aggregate, companies will spend an incremental €250 billion on IoT in 2020 (over and above their normal technology spending), three industries will account for approximately 50% of that spending. And three, although all layers of the IoT technology stack are poised to grow through 2020, the layers are not equally attractive.”

Graphic:

bcg iot statistics 2017

Link: https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/hardware-software-energy-environment-winning-in-iot-all-about-winning-processes/


Title: Internet of Things Spending Forecast to Grow 17.9% in 2016 Led by Manufacturing, Transportation, and Utilities Investments, According to New IDC Spending Guide

Date: 4 January 2017

Author: IDC

Summary: International Data Corporation (IDC) released an update to its Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide report, which predicted IoT spending will reach US$1.29 trillion in 2020

Graphic: IDC IoT Market Share

Link: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS42209117


Title: Machina Research expands the scope of its IoT forecasts and highlights a USD4 trillion revenue opportunity in 2025

Date: 3 May 2016

Author: Machina Research

Summary: “Machina Research comprehensively extends the coverage of its forecasts to include almost the entirety of the Internet of Things revenue opportunity, predicting it will rise from USD892 billion in 2015 to USD4 trillion in 2025.”

Graphic: n/a

Link: https://machinaresearch.com/news/machina-research-expands-the-scope-of-its-iot-forecasts-and-highlights-a-usd4-trillion-revenue-opportunity-in-2025/


Title: Gartner Says Worldwide IoT Security Spending to Reach $348 Million in 2016

Date: 25 April 2016

Author: Gartner

Summary: IoT security expenditure to 2018

Graphic: Internet of Things security expenditure

Link: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3291817


Title: Machina Research expands the scope of its IoT forecasts and highlights a USD4 trillion revenue opportunity in 2025

Date: 3 May 2016

Author: Machina Research

Summary: “Machina Research comprehensively extends the coverage of its forecasts to include almost the entirety of the Internet of Things revenue opportunity, predicting it will rise from USD892 billion in 2015 to USD4 trillion in 2025.”

Graphic: n/a

Link: https://machinaresearch.com/news/machina-research-expands-the-scope-of-its-iot-forecasts-and-highlights-a-usd4-trillion-revenue-opportunity-in-2025/


Title: IoT platforms: enabling the Internet of Things

Date: March 2016

Author: IHS

Summary: Forecast of global IoT installed base from 2015 to 2025

Graphic: IoT Devices Forecast

Link: https://www.ihs.com/Info/0416/internet-of-things.html


Title: Cloud Index White Paper

Date: 21 April 2016

Author: Cisco

Summary: “Globally, the data created by Internet of Everything (IoE) devices will reach 507.5 ZB per year (42.3 ZB per month) by 2019, up from 134.5 ZB per year (11.2 ZB per month) in 2014.
● Globally, the data created by IoE devices will be 269 times higher than the amount of data being transmitted to data centers from end-user devices and 49 times higher than total data center traffic by 2019.”

Graphic: n/a

Link: http://cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/global-cloud-index-gci/Cloud_Index_White_Paper.html


Title: IDC Forecasts Worldwide Shipments of Wearables to Surpass 200 Million in 2019, Driven by Strong Smartwatch Growth and the Emergence of Smarter Watches

Date: 17 March 2016

Author: IDC

Summary: “Worldwide shipments of wearable devices are expected to reach 110 million by the end of 2016 with 38.2% growth over the previous year. An expanding lineup of vendors combined with fast-growing consumer awareness and demand will generate double-digit growth throughout the 2015-2020 forecast period, culminating in shipments of 237.1 million wearable devices in 2020. The market will also be driven forward by the proliferation of new and different wearable products. Watch and wristband shipments will reach a combined total of 100 million shipments in 2016, up from 72.2 million in 2015.”

Graphic: n/a

Link: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS41100116


Title: Gartner Says 6.4 Billion Connected “Things” Will Be in Use in 2016, Up 30 Percent From 2015

Date: 10 November 2015

Author: Gartner

Summary: “Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 20.8 billion by 2020. In 2016, 5.5 million new things will get connected every day.
Gartner estimates that the Internet of Things (IoT) will support total services spending of $235 billion in 2016, up 22 percent from 2015.”

Graphic: n/a

Link: http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3165317


Title: IC Insights Raises Growth Forecast for IoT

Date: 16 July 2015

Author: IC Insights

Summary: Global IoT revenues by segment from 2012 to 2015

Graphic: IoT Installed base forecast

Link: http://www.icinsights.com/news/bulletins/Internet-Of-Things-Market-To-Nearly-Double-By-2019-/


Title: The Internet of Things: “Smart” Products Demand a Smart Strategy

Date: March 2015

Author: Woodside Capital Partners

Summary: Large (101 pages) PDF with lots of data from different sources.

Graphic: IoT Forecast Comparisons

Link: http://www.woodsidecap.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/WCP-IOT-M_and_A-REPORT-2015-3.pdf

 


Title: Internet of things: making the most of the second digital revolution

Date: 18 December 2014

Author: UK Government

Summary: The downloadable PDF contains some useful comparisons of estimates from the main IoT vendors and analysts. See pages 14 and 20

Graphic: Economic Value of Internet of Things

Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/internet-of-things-blackett-review


Title: The Internet of Things: Sizing up the opportunity

Date: December 2014

Author: McKinsey & Co.

Summary: Installed base forecast to 2020 and value to global economy for 2025

Graphic: Internet of things forecast chart

Link: http://www.mckinsey.com/industries/high-tech/our-insights/the-internet-of-things-sizing-up-the-opportunity


Title: The ‘Internet of Things’ Will Be The World’s Most Massive Device Market And Save Companies Billions Of Dollars

Date: 18 November 2014

Author: Business Insider

Summary: Estimates of global installed base and annual growth to 2019

Graphic: IoT Installed Base growth

Link: http://uk.businessinsider.com/how-the-internet-of-things-market-will-grow-2014-10?r=US&IR=T


Title: What Exactly is the Internet of Things?

Date: March 2014

Author: Harbor Research

Summary: Slideshare deck with data on IoT devices shipments by sector and revenue estimates for those segments to 2020.

Graphic: IoT Device Shipments

Link: http://www.slideshare.net/harborresearch/harbor-researchs-infographic-on-the-internet-of-things-and-smart-services


Title: The Internet of Things: How the Next Evolution of the Internet Is Changing Everything

Date: April 2011

Author: Cisco

Summary: Downloadable PDF. Forecasts 50 billion connected devices by 2020

Graphic: Cisco 50 billion connected devices

Link: http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/ac79/docs/innov/IoT_IBSG_0411FINAL.pdf


Other Resources:

  1. For a good overview of paid-for market reports see this page from Postscapes.
  2. Forbes has a summary of market size estimates and forecasts (published in November 2016)

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