Telecom Lead America:
The number of shipped consumer M2M devices with cellular connectivity grew
to 7.1 million worldwide in 2011, up from 6.4 million in the previous year.
E-readers and PNDs are the most common consumer M2M devices
already shipping in millions. Handheld gaming consoles, personal tracking
devices and wellness devices are promising categories as well.
In the next five years, shipments of consumer M2M devices
are forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of
39.8 percent to reach 37.9 million devices in 2016.
“Cellular connectivity gives the freedom of being
connected everywhere and there are already 12.7 million consumer M2M devices in
use worldwide” said Johan Svanberg, senior analyst, Berg Insight.
Consumer awareness, decreasing prices of modules and
chipsets together with massive global deployments of high speed cellular
networks such as LTE will have a positive impact on the market.
“In a not too distant future, a substantial part of all
content and services will be delivered through mobile channels. All companies –
from device vendors, content owners to service providers – need to prepare for
this change and have a well thought out mobile strategy in order to stay
relevant,” Svanberg added.