Next year will see steep Internet of Things (IoT) growth, with Gartner forecasting a 30 per cent year-on-year rise in devices, with of 5.5 million new things being connected a day.Gartner has forecast that there will be 6.4 billion connected things in use worldwide in 2016, with the IoT march set to continue through to 2020, at which point Gartner forecasts 20.8 billion devices will be in use.
Gartner additionally estimates that IoT will support total services spending of US$235 billion in 2016, up 22 per cent from 2015, with services dominated by the professional category, while connectivity services and consumer services will grow at a faster pace.
“IoT services are the real driver of value in IoT, and increasing attention is being focused on new services by end-user organisations and vendors,” Jim Tully, Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst, commented.
“Aside from connected cars, consumer uses will continue to account for the greatest number of connected things, while enterprise will account for the largest spending.”
Next year, Gartner estimates that 4.02 billion connected things will be in use in the consumer sector, reaching 13.5 billion in 2020.
Gartner classifies two classes of connected things in the enterprise sector: generic or cross-industry devices used in multiple industries (such as connected light bulbs and building management systems), and vertical-specific devices found in particular industries (such as specialised equipment used in hospital operating theatres).
“Connected things for specialised use are currently the largest category, however this is quickly changing with the increased use of generic devices,” Tully commented. “By 2020, cross-industry devices will dominate the number of connected things used in the enterprise.”
