M2M market to reach 400 million units by 2017

A new report forecasts that the market for M2M and embedded devices will reach 400 million by the end of 2017, up from a little more than 110 million at present.

The study from Juniper Research has found that the Telematics and Consumer Electronics sectors are rapidly becoming the two anchor industries for the M2M (Machine to Machine) market, challenging the position of smart metering.  

Juniper explained that while the eReader has single-handedly enhanced the prospects of embedded devices in the consumer electronics industry, the promise of increased driver efficiency and cost management will drive the success in telematics: “The automotive market is potentially easier to address than other sectors as it contains fewer players,” said Anthony Cox, associate analyst at Juniper Research and the report’s author.

Further findings from the M2M & Embedded Strategies report include:

Almost without exception, Mobile Network Operators have embraced M2M as an industry sector, tailoring services and approaches to the industry.
APIs from M2M specialists are becoming increasingly sophisticated with tailored solutions for individual M2M customers now common.
Hardware manufacturers are providing increased support for their products including API and industry -specific modules.
4G chipsets, while shipping in very low volumes at present, will find their market in the automotive industry and specific applications such as live video monitoring.

The report also finds that the price of M2M modules will continue to reduce, particularly for 3G modules, as automotive and consumer electronics use-cases require improved bandwidth and latency, and as 2G infrastructure is retired in some markets.