Global M2M subscriber base now exceeds 100 million thanks to Chinese growth
The global number of mobile network connections used for wireless machine to machine (M2M) communication increased by over one third last year, according to new research.
A research report from analyst firm, Berg Insight, shows that mobile network connections for M2M rose by a healthy 37% in 2011, to reach 108.0 million.
Asia-Pacific was the strongest regional market, recording a year on year growth rate of 64% and reached 34.5 million connections at the year end. Europe and North America grew by around 27% each to 32.3 million and 29.3 million connections respectively.
In the next five years, the global number of wireless M2M connections is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.2% to reach 359.3 million in 2016.
“2011 was the year when M2M communication really took off in China. The number of wireless M2M subscribers in the country nearly doubled and is now estimated to exceed 20 million,” said Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst, Berg Insight. “We believe that China Mobile became the world's largest M2M connectivity provider at the end of 2011 with around 14 million subscribers. If the trend continues, the Chinese market will surpass the US in absolute terms within two to three years.”
Berg Insight expects that 2012 will be another positive year for the wireless M2M industry. A renewed interest in telematics technology from the global automotive industry has already had a positive effect on demand and promises to generate very significant additional volumes over the next years.
Overall, the enterprise M2M market will benefit from increasingly advanced service enablement platforms that facilitate the integration of enterprise applications and networked remote devices.
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