IoT Trends & Predictions

A look at recent IoT trends & predictions and a collection of our Internet of Things Trends reports. 

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IoT Trends

With a history that goes back twenty years, Telenor IoT has witnessed and stimulated a number of technological shifts in M2M and the Internet of Things. The latest IoT trends have seen large-scale deployments become a reality, with IoT connection numbers growing into the billions. This is set to continue as more and more devices become connected and new use cases and business models are powered by IoT.

Recent trends in IoT have undoubtedly been impacted by the global coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly affected the way IoT is developing. In a world where contact between humans is, for now, more limited, contact between devices, tools, and toys can help us to remain connected.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most prominent tech trends to have emerged in recent years. In simple terms, it refers to the fact that while the word internet initially referred to the wide-scale networking of computers, today, devices of every size and shape – from cars to kitchen appliances to industrial machinery – are connected and sharing information digitally, on a global scale.

Several trends continue to gather momentum, stimulating IoT’s prominence in 2021, from Industrial IoT devices to health-and-safety applications as COVID-19 continues to take center stage.

To explore the diverse array of IoT technologies and their transformative potential, including eSIM, LTE, 5G Redcap and more, visit our page about IoT Technology.

Here are a few facts, figures and trends, gathered across the web, that can help us understand where the IoT world is at, how it’s been impacted by the pandemics, and what to expect over the next few years:

Recent IoT Trends - Facts and Figures

  • Analyst firm IoT Analytics reports that global IoT device connections reached 11.7 billion in 2020, outstripping non-IoT connections for the first time. The firm projects global IoT connections will reach 30 billion by 2025, driven by cellular IoT, low power wide area (LPWA) networks and wireless local area networks (WLAN).
  • The connected car market is set to see accelerated growth in 2021, and sales should return to trend in early 2022, according to analyst firm ABI Research, which expects to see 115 million global connected car shipments, and a market value of US$83 billion in 2025.
  • Wood Mackenzie Power & Renewables estimates that over the period 2020-2025, the total number of smart meters deployed will rise from about one billion to nearly 1.3 billion
  • Berg Insight estimates that global cellular IoT module shipments increased by 14% to a new record level of 303 million in 2020. Annual revenues grew slower at 8% to reach US$3.4 bn. While the COVID-19 pandemic has affected demand in several major application areas in 2020, the global chipset shortage has had a broader impact on the market in 2021 and curbed growth of IoT device shipments in the near term. Until 2025, Berg Insight forecasts that cellular IoT module shipments will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8% to reach 629.6 million units.

IoT Market Trends - A Global IoT Market Forecast

IoT trends and forecast
Image source: IoT Analytics https://iot-analytics.com/number-connected-iot-devices/

Telenor´s Take on AIoT (Artificial Intelligence of Things)

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Telenor´s Internet of Things Prediction Reports

IoT Predictions 2024: AIoT to Emerge as the Defining Enabler of Digital Transformation

Learn how the integration of Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things is transitioning from a business luxury to a strategic necessity for enterprises.
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IoT Predictions 2023: IoT will Redefine Urban Mobility

Download the IoT Prediction 2023 Report and explore how IoT technology will play a key role in overcoming many of the challenges that urban mobility is facing today.
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IoT Predictions 2022

Download the 2022 IoT Prediction Report and discover how 5G, sustainability and the new normal are set to fuel digitalization.
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IoT Predictions 2021

Explore this report where we reveal how global supply chains will be transformed by IoT solutions in the coming years.
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IoT Trends 2020

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5 IoT Trends for 2019

How will IoT drive the connected economy? Explore our five IoT trends for 2019 and beyond.
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Blog post

IoT market set to grow to 4 billion

The 2021 edition of The Global M2M/IoT Communications Market report has been published by research firm Berg Insight. In this guest blog post, Fredrik Stålbrand, Senior Analyst at Berg Insight, highlights some interesting findings from the report.
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Industry-Related IoT Trends

IoT Trends in the Automotive Industry

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IoT Trends in Industrial Manufacturing

Manufacturers who grasp the full potential of IoT are able to not only streamline production, but can create entirely new business models and revenue streams.
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IoT Trends in Transport and Logistics

From location tracking to assisted and autonomous driving, IoT is transforming the entire transportation industry.
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IoT Trends in the Utilities Industry

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