ABI Research says the number of mobile machine-to-machine connections grew by 26.2% in 2011, rising from a cumulative total of 87.7 million connections worldwide in 2010 to 110.6 million connections at the end of 2011. That figure is expected to reach 364.5 million connections by 2016, which is the equivalent of a 27% increase each year.
As a result, the M2M market will generate about $35 billion (£23 billion) revenue from connectivity services in 2016.
The largest revenue will be generated by the automotive telematics and smart energy sectors. Automotive telematics, including factory-installed and after-market services, will generate more than $15.5 billion in 2016. Mobile connections to smart meters and data concentrators will be worth more than $7.5 billion.
Sam Lucero, ABI Research practice director for M2M connectivity, said “As mobile operators further develop their M2M service offerings, software platforms and M2M application developer support will feature as increasingly larger components of the operators’ services. For example, AT&T announced on January 9, 2012 that it would be reselling Axeda’s M2M application platform in a US carrier exclusive deal. This platform will enable AT&T customers to more easily develop and deploy complex M2M applications.”
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