The number of mobile M2M (machine-to-machine) connections is expected to exceed last year's forecast, according to ABI Research. It it's raised its prediction of about 225 million connections worldwide by 2014 to 232.5 million, with over 297 million M2M connections anticipated in 2015.
Europe will account for the largest regional share with 110 million connections in 2015, followed by North America with 79 million and the Asia-Pacific region with almost 66 million.
Sam Lucero, ABI Research practice director, said "The major world regions show different drivers for cellular M2M markets. The European market is the most diversified and has the most mature deployments. The EU benefits from regulatory mandates surrounding eCall and smart energy. In North America the focus has traditionally been more on telematics, although M2M is now growing strongly in other areas including smart energy. Both telematics and energy are providing impetus in Asia-Pac, but the markets are less mature, outside of key countries such as Japan."