Quectel and Fibocom maintained their market leadership while China Mobile overtook Telit Cinterion to become the third largest player.
The top three applications accounted for around 51% of shipments in Q2 2023 compared to 41% in Q2 2022.
For the full year 2023, global cellular IoT module shipments are expected to remain almost flat compared to 2022.
San Diego, Buenos Aires, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul – October 16, 2023
Global cellular IoT module shipments saw a 3% YoY decline in Q2 2023, according to Counterpoint’s latest Global Cellular IoT Module and Chipset Tracker by Application report. The decline was driven by factors such as lower demand and weaker economic sentiments. Barring the top three applications – smart meters, point of sale (POS) devices and automotive, most segments experienced a sharp drop in shipments. The top three applications – smart meters, POS devices and automotive – accounted for about 51% of the market in Q2 2023. India was the only market to register positive shipment growth for the quarter.
Commenting on the market dynamics, Associate Director Mohit Agrawal said, “In Q2 2023, many of the module players experienced shipment declines as the market shrunk for the first time since the start of COVID-19. The pandemic-induced demand for connected devices is wearing off while the digital transformation efforts in industrial and other key verticals are yet to translate into shipments. Quectel’s revenue from international markets surpassed its revenue from China. Chinese module vendors are increasingly coming under US scanner for security concerns. This scrutiny could potentially challenge their global expansion plans, paving the way for other vendors to seize more opportunities.”
Quectel, the leading module vendor, experienced a decline in its market share due to weakened demand.
China Mobile, with strong performance in smart meter, POS and asset tracker applications, overtook Telit Cinterion to become the third largest player in the global cellular IoT module market.
Telit Cinterion faced challenges due to the market downturn. With India expected to be the fastest-growing market by 2030, Telit recently partnered with VVDN to produce IoT modules in the country and increase its presence there.
Commenting on the future outlook, SeniorResearch Analyst Soumen Mandal said, “IoT module shipments for the full year of 2023 are expected to remain flat compared to 2022. The IoT module market’s performance in H2 2023 will be better than in H1 2023 as the market is showing early signs of recovery. However, the lower demand is influencing the market’s long-term growth trajectory, with the current demand shifting by 2-3 years.”
Mandal added, “The adoption of 5G technology has been slower than expected, primarily due to its higher costs, coverage issues and maturity of the 5G device ecosystem. The forthcoming 5G RedCap has the potential to become the industry’s game changer by offering a more affordable solution. Early adoption of 5G RedCap is expected in POS and router/CPE applications.”
For detailed research, refer to the following reports available for subscribing clients and individuals:
Counterpoint tracks 1,500+ IoT module SKUs on a quarterly basis and provides forecasts on shipments, revenues and ASP performances for 80+ IoT module vendors, 12+ chipset players and 18+ IoT applications across 10 major geographies.
Background
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.
The hype surrounding digital twins is undoubtedly real, with many IoT players actively seeking to leverage the unique benefits of digital twin technology to gain a competitive edge in the market.
Connectivity, a key component of digital transformation, was at center stage with a significant focus on satellite and 5G.
Partnerships, collaborations, and API will fight the fragmentation in IoT and digital transformation.
San Diego, Buenos Aires, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul – May 15, 2023
Counterpoint Research analysts recently attended three of the most prominent tech events of 2023 – Consumer Electronics Show, Mobile World Congress, and Industrial Transformation at Hannover Messe. After a hiatus of three years, these events saw a remarkable return of in-person attendance, indicating a promising comeback of the tech industry. During their visits, Counterpoint analysts delved deep into the latest trends and advancements in IoT and digital transformation, and have now identified seven key takeaways or focus areas. The findings are expected to have far-reaching implications for businesses and organizations looking to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.
Commenting on the key takeaways, Associate Director Mohit Agrawal said, “As we attended the tech events of 2023, it became increasingly clear that the rise of digital twins was the single biggest takeaway, particularly in Hannover. We saw how digital twins have energized the industrial IoT players, and are likely to become a critical component of digital transformation in the coming years. Connectivity plays a crucial role in enabling digital transformation and the events had a significant focus on satellite, private networks, eSIM, 5G, and connectivity management platforms. Finally, we were impressed with the companies’ incorporation of AI in various processes, especially in analytics, visual inspection, and robotics. It is exciting to see how these technological advancements will shape the future of industries, and we are eager to keep a close watch on these developments.”
Source: Counterpoint Research
Each of the events was attended by over 100,000 visitors and had exhibitors across the long value chain of IoT and digital transformation. Many of the takeaways amplified Counterpoint Research’s top trends prediction for 2023 released earlier this year, noted ResearchVice President Neil Shah. “IoT is an incredibly vast and fragmented value chain, and it is becoming increasingly clear that industry consolidation is necessary. Efforts like the Qualcomm Aware platform are a step in the right direction to reduce fragmentation and improve the overall IoT landscape. It is essential to see more of these kinds of partnerships between players in the industry to reduce adoption friction points and fully realize the potential of IoT. APIs are increasingly becoming important in seamless collaborations. As we move forward, we remain optimistic about the future of IoT and the role that industry collaboration will play in driving innovation and growth,” Shah added.
Feel free to reach us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.
Background
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.
Global connected agriculture node shipments will grow at a CAGR of 30% from 23 million units in 2022 to reach 187 million units by 2030.
Crop farming will be the fastest growing segment in the connected agriculture market, followed by drones and robots, tractors, and livestock monitoring.
Connectivity penetration in farms will remain below 10% by 2030.
China, Europe and North America will be key markets for connected agriculture equipment.
San Diego, Buenos Aires, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul – May 4, 2023
Global connected agriculture device/node shipments will grow by 30% annually to reach 187 million units by 2030 from 23 million in 2022, according to Counterpoint’s latest Global Connected Agriculture Market report. The need for connectivity is driven by large farms and livestock, and manpower shortage in some countries. China will grow the fastest over the forecast period to become the top market for connected agriculture products. Further, the connected agriculture market’s crop farming segment is expected to grow at the fastest pace (41% CAGR) during 2023-2030, followed by drones and robots, tractors, and livestock monitoring.
Connected agriculture, also known as smart farming or digital farming, refers to the use of technology, such as sensors, drones and other digital tools, to optimize agricultural production. Connected agriculture enables farmers to monitor and manage their crops and livestock more efficiently by collecting and analyzing data in real time. This data can help farmers make more informed decisions about planting, irrigation, fertilization, pest control and other things. Connected agriculture allows for more precise and targeted use of resources, which can reduce waste and improve yields.
Commenting on connected farm equipment like tractors, drones and agriculture robots, SeniorResearch Analyst Soumen Mandal said, “Drones are emerging as a key technology supporting agriculture primarily for visual inspection, spraying and mapping. But the current usage is very low due to the non-availability of skilled manpower, insufficient battery life and high computational costs. Similarly, the usage of robots in agriculture is still limited due to technological challenges and high prices. However, there will be significant potential for drones and robotics going forward, especially in China, Europe and North America.
The rising trends of electrification and autonomous operations are driving connectivity adoption in the tractor market. India has a 45% share in the global tractor market but the country’s brands are very selective in providing connected solutions, thus slowing the overall connectivity penetration in the global tractor market.”
Senior Research AnalystAkshara Bassi said, “We will see increased penetration of smart devices, especially smart collars and pedometers among livestock farmers, in the coming years due to the productivity benefits and ease of livestock management offered by these devices. We expect the smart livestock market to grow at 18% annually over the forecast period driven by lower pricing, mass availability of affordable connectivity options, low maintenance of the devices and subsidies by governments to digitize agriculture.” Bassi added, “Increase in labor wages and shortage of labor also drive the farms to automate some of the tasks without impacting their productivity.”
Commenting on the market outlook, Associate Director Mohit Agrawal said, “During the forecast period, the shipments of connected agricultural devices and end nodes are expected to increase by 30% YoY to reach 187 million units from 23 million units in 2022, mainly driven by the crop farming industry. China is projected to be the largest market, propelled by government initiatives and the rise of cooperative farming. Meanwhile, in Western markets such as the US and Europe, the adoption of technology is driven by the large size of farms and manpower scarcity. Despite having the world’s largest arable land, India is expected to lag behind in technology adoption due to the relatively small size of its farms.
The lack of technology awareness among farmers, small landholdings and inadequate cellular network coverage in farming areas are the key challenges for connected farming. As a result, the penetration of connectivity in farms will remain below 10% even in 2030, and a significant proportion of the connected nodes will rely on non-cellular technologies.”
Feel free to reach us at press@counterpointresearch.com for questions regarding our latest research and insights.
Background
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.
Large companies Like Google, SAP, IBM, and Ericsson have quit loss-making IoT businesses.
Ericsson’s failure highlights the fragmented IoT value chain, which makes it difficult for players to capture a significant portion of the value.
Aeris is expected to benefit from the scale of its operations following the closure of the deal with Ericsson.
Further industry shakeout is expected in 2023 as an unsustainable number of players are trying to get a pie of the lucrative IoT market.
Ericsson has announced that it will be exiting the Internet of Things (IoT) market, joining a growing list of companies that have decided to quit this space. The Swedish company has agreed to sell its IoT connectivity management and connected vehicle cloud platform IoT Accelerator to Aeris for an undisclosed amount. Aeris is an MVNO purely focused on providing cellular connectivity for IoT.
Google IoT Core, SAP, Bosch Device Management, and IBM Watson are among the other major players that have decided to cease IoT operations in 2023. Ericsson’s decision is a reflection of the challenges and setbacks the company has faced in this market, as well as the broader challenges that the IoT industry has been grappling with.
Why Ericsson decided to hang up?
Ericsson’s announcement comes after several quarters of disappointing financial performance of its IoT business. Despite investing heavily in IoT technologies and solutions, the company has struggled to break even. Ericsson’s IoT business saw a loss of around SEK 1 billion ($98 million) on revenues of SEK 0.8 billion($78.6 million) in the 2022 full year. Ericsson attributes the limited returns on its investments in the IoT market to the fragmentation of the market, which has resulted in the company only capturing a small part of the value chain. As a result, Ericsson has decided to focus its resources on other areas, such as enterprise 5G and 5G private networks, that will continue to cross paths with IoT.
Aeris gets scale with acquisition
Aeris is a leading IoT MVNO having partnerships with major communication service providers such as Vodafone, AT&T, and SoftBank, as well as leading automotive OEMs. The recent deal is beneficial for Aeris as it will immediately increase the scale of its operations. Upon closure, Aeris will gain 95 million connected devices in addition to its current 5 million devices, while the number of customers is expected to increase from 400 to 9,400. The deal will also shift to Aeris Ericsson’s global connectivity agreements with 35 mobile operators. In a nutshell, Aeris will get the scale and geographical reach. However, the transaction is more like a reverse merger, which may bring new challenges for Aeris as it will have to manage operations at a much larger scale while rationalizing them to drive the combined company toward profitability.
Aeris is planning to combine its intelligent, software-defined IoT network with Ericsson’s connectivity management platform to create synergies and provide new value-added services. Aeris would be looking to bring down the operating costs by consolidating the platforms. However, execution of this strategy may be difficult, as Aeris may face the same challenges as Ericsson unless it partners with companies that bring complementary capabilities to the IoT value chain.
Our take
Despite challenges, the IoT market is expected to continue growing in the future. The increasing adoption of IoT technologies in various sectors, such as healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing, is likely to drive the market’s growth. Additionally, the development of new technologies, such as 5G and edge computing, is also expected to open up new opportunities for IoT companies.
Ericsson’s decision to exit the IoT market not only reflects the challenges and setbacks that the company has faced in this space but also the broader challenges faced by the IoT industry. These challenges include a lack of clear business objectives, a fragmented value chain, and the inability to generate decent returns on investments. This has led to many players leaving the IoT market, and it is likely that further consolidation or exits will occur in 2023. An industry shakeout would be healthy for the IoT market’s growth as an unsustainable number of players are trying to get a pie of the lucrative IoT market.
Landis+Gyr, a leading global provider of integrated energy management solutions, posted H1 2022 net revenue of $728.7 million, a 4% rise from the year-ago period.
H1 2022 Highlights:
The company’s H1 2022 bill-to-book ratio was strong, reflecting the continuation of smart metering rollouts across major regions, conversion of backlogs, project deployments, contract wins and strong demand. Landis+Gyr’s revenue and financial performance improved with the help of growth in its residential load management software and services, and meter data management system solutions.
The company had a solid order intake of $773.2 million in H1 2022 across its three main regions of operation. However, total backlog for the period rose 7.5% YoY to a record-high of $3,480 million, driven by component shortages and supply chain constraints.
Landis+Gyr is set firmly on the innovation track with new technological advances, such as the E360 IoT grid-edge meter, E660 next-generation industrial grid-edge meter, cloud-native data hub connector application, GridFlex control SaaS demand-side management solution, NB-IoT-supported T550 heat and cold meter, and the water portfolio development which is on track for launch in 2023.
The company is rapidly growing in the Latin America region with the release of new solutions such as the Magno cabinet meter, Wi-SUN in collaboration with Cisco, Revelo residential meter, G480 NB-IoT ultrasonic gas meter and the Edge intelligence ecosystem.
Acquisitions and investments with a strong focus on high-growth opportunities, such as new EV charging infrastructure and flexibility management, will give Landis+Gyr over-proportional growth and make it resilient to recession.
Landis+Gyr’s smart infrastructure investments in Australia and New Zealand continue to pioneer smart water solutions to detect customer-side and network leaks and reduce non-revenue water losses. The company is set to roll out its smart water meter in New Zealand in partnership with Watercare as it embarks on its first wave of digital transformation in the country.
Regional Key Developments in H1 2022
Americas:
The Americas region delivered net revenue of $391.7 million in H1 2022, up 20.4% YoY, driven by higher contract wins including APS, United Illuminating, Peoples Gas, Tri-County and Meriwether Lewis Electric.
The strong revenue growth was also driven by large advanced metering infrastructure rollouts during the period, namely PSE&G NJ, LG&E and AES Ohio.
Major wins in Latin America with Equatorial, ENEL and EDP for cabinet meters and Iberdrola for C&I meters also helped boost revenue.
Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA):
Net revenue from the EMEA region fell 6% YoY in H1 2022 to $248 million driven by the unavailability of critical components. The French and UK markets were hurt by delayed projects and weak currencies during the period.
However, smart meter shipments are expected to increase to 4 million units by 2023 due to the SMET2 implementation program, which will replace the SMET1 smart meter.
The Fluvius project in Belgium along with the metering rollout in Switzerland will drive high order intake for smart meters through continued public tender activities. Landis+Gyr’s partnership with Enedis in France will be a growth driver for the region.
Asia-Pacific (APAC):
Net revenue from the APAC region jumped 23.8% YoY in H1 2022 to $89 million, with the New Zealand and Australian markets being the main drivers. The backlog from this region continues to grow due to strong order intake in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia (SEA).
The company’s initial deployment of the E360 smart meter in Australia as part of the long-term partnership with Yurika, a unit of Energy Queensland, is proving to be beneficial.
The advanced metering infrastructure in the SEA region is expected to grow as markets such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines are transitioning away from non-AMI setups. The extended partnership with HK Electric to supply smart meters in Hong Kong is also helping Landis+Gyr increase its footprint in the SEA region.
Key Takeaways:
Improvements in computing power are driving digital transformation in the utility sector and Edge intelligence for localized decision-making is becoming more critical as the penetration of distributed energy resources is increasing.
Like the rest of the smart meter market, the ongoing supply chain constraints are weighing on Landis+Gyr’s ability to fulfil customer orders. However, we expect the situation to ease in H2 2022. Landis+Gyr has been building up its inventory in anticipation of strong shipments in H2 2022.
The inventory build-up will result in negative free cash flow but we expect Landis+Gyr to be well positioned to support utilities and end customers.
Landis+Gyr is set to benefit going forward as the strong order intake indicates a favourable market environment and an increased need for more intelligent power grids. This will drive energy efficiency and ensure critical infrastructure stability which will be further amplified by the energy crisis.
COP 27 (or the 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) is underway at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt this week. Leaders and experts are meeting to brainstorm on how to tackle climate change and make our planet sustainable. Poverty, climate change, and food security are the top long-term concerns today. The challenge of sustainable development facing the world today requires unique solutions and technology is sure to play an important and positive role.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is having a profound impact on the way we live and the way we consume. Increasingly, it is becoming a key enabler in sustainable development, both from the consumer as well as industrial perspective. IoT can help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.
Sustainable Development Goals
The 2030 agenda for sustainable development was adopted by all UN members in 2015. It provides a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries, whether developed or developing, in a global partnership.
IoT can play a role in achieving almost all the 17 goals but below are some of the goals where its impact is going to be significant:
Zero hunger (SDG 2)
There are over 7 billion people who call this planet their home. According to a WFP report, an estimated 768 million people were chronically hungry in 2020 which increased to 828 million in 2022. To achieve the goal of zero hunger, there is a need to increase farm productivity, reduce food waste and improve food storage and distribution.
Smart farming enables farmers to reduce waste and increase productivity. Sensors can be used to monitor weather, soil, and crop condition in real time. Monitoring alone can save billions of gallons of water and gigawatts of electricity by reducing waste and yet increasing farm productivity. Agrisource Data, an Africa-based start-up leveraging IoT and AI for farm analytics claims to have saved 772 million liters of water in the last six years and increase the average yield by around 9%.
Storage and transportation wastages can be greatly reduced by monitoring the environment to ensure optimal temperature and humidity levels. Real-time information helps take corrective action, leading to lower food wastage. Another area where IoT is playing a role is livestock monitoring, enabling farm owners to monitor the well-being of their cattle and reduce the spread of diseases.
The world’s population is aging and the elderly’s well-being is a concern. According to the World Bank, nearly 10% of the world’s population is aged above 65. In many developed countries, it is already at 20%. In such a scenario, it is imperative that the care shifts from hospitals to homes. This is where connected health using IoT is coming to the rescue to provide quality care from the comfort of home. IoT devices are making independent senior living safer with motion sensors and fall detection and panic buttons helping caregivers monitor the elderly remotely.
Air pollution is a key concern for well-being. To take meaningful and timely action, it is important to measure the air quality at a hyper-local level, which is an expensive proposition. Installing air quality monitoring IoT sensors on vehicles is another way of collecting hyper-local pollution data. Vehicles such as bin lorries, buses, and council vehicles regularly drive throughout most urban and residential areas. Installing IoT air quality sensors on cars along with GPS systems is another way to collect the data without having to invest in hundreds of sensors in fixed locations. Manxtechgroup (MTG) has trialed mobile hyper-local air quality monitoring technology in the Isle of Man, delivering hyper-local measurements in a cost-effective manner.
Wearables, smartwatches in particular, are motivating people to stay healthy. Studies have shown that in the following 13 weeks after a smartwatch purchase, people’s step count increases by an average of 2,000.
According to UNICEF and WHO, one in three people globally does not have access to safe drinking water and unsafe water is responsible for 1.2 million deaths every year. IoT can substantially help achieve the clean water objective by reducing water wastage, monitoring water quality, and providing running water through innovative solutions. eWATER is a water operator in sub-Saharan Africa. Combining mobile money, IoT, and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies, eWATER claims to manage the provision of clean, low-cost water, which is accessible 24/7.
Vodafone UK has partnered with SES Water to develop an NB-IoT-based system to save water lost to leaks. About 23% of the water that runs through underground pipes is lost to leakage, and the project’s short-term aim is to reduce this by 15% in five years, and more than halve it by 2045
For sanitation, IoT-powered smart solutions focus on bringing efficiency in waste collection and management. Route optimization of the waste collection can not only reduce fuel consumption but can also help clear up the waste dumpsters faster.
Affordable and clean energy (SDG 7)
Pollution levels are rising across the world and energy is a big source of pollution. Efforts are being made to produce clean energy at an affordable price.
Smart gird Featured image: Stock
The reliability of renewable energy has been a concern for some. Moreover, the cost of production of green energy has been on the higher side. Combinations of IoT, AI, and ML technologies are helping improve reliability and reduce operational costs. The development of smart grids has been a boon for renewable energy as it improves the reliability of the energy supply by integrating renewable energy with traditional energy sources.
In 2015, the Isles of Scilly (UK) partnered with Hitachi to reduce the island’s reliance on fossil fuels and cut electricity bills by 40%. To meet the goals, the island council installed 400 kW of solar panels on administrative and residential buildings and deployed Hitachi’s IoT platform to distribute the electricity harvested from renewable sources and monitor carbon emissions.
Maintenance of field equipment like wind turbines is expensive and time-consuming. IoT devices capture data and relay it to the cloud, where AI algorithms compare real-time sensor readings with historical data and assess whether the equipment is functioning properly. Power plant personnel and field technicians access the data remotely to determine if repairs are needed. This way, operations cost can be lowered by moving to prescriptive maintenance. Advanced IoT systems may also incorporate edge IoT devices that have enough computing power to locally process sensor data and control the machines without human interference.
The use of smart energy meters enables the collection of real-time consumption data. By using analytics and data processing solutions, electricity suppliers can spot trends and patterns related to peak load conditions. By 2024, 77% of EU households will have smart electric meters. India plans to install 250 million smart meters by 2025. The smart meter will not only bring benefits like accurate billing to consumers but also help the planners use real-time data and analytics.
Industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9)
Creating resilient and sustainable infrastructure and industry, and also promoting innovation, are among the key goals for 2030. From the beginning, key use cases of IoT have been focused on industry and infrastructure. No wonder, an estimated 35-40% of IoT projects currently involve industry or infrastructure. There are innumerable ways in which IoT can help achieve this objective. For instance, in the automotive industry, IoT could enable preventive maintenance, improve navigation, prevent collisions, and enable various levels of vehicle autonomy and other interesting services. In factories, connected operations can lift productivity, lower energy consumption, and reduce costs. US-based start-up Arch Systems provides connected systems for data collection. The systems use sensors to collect factory data in real-time, thus providing detailed metrics to enable manufacturing optimization. The systems extract actionable insights from this data as well as facilitate predictive maintenance. This helps factories move from preventive to predictive maintenance, improving uptime.
The world is becoming increasingly urbanized. Over 60% of the world’s population is projected to live in cities by 2030. Rapid urbanization is underway in emerging economies like India, China, and Indonesia. The cities account for 70% of the carbon emission. Clearly, sustainable cities are needed to fight off the threat of climate change. IoT not only supports sustainable cities but also aligns services and facilities with the citizens’ needs.
IoT and other digital transformation technologies can be embedded across the city infrastructure. Smart traffic signals can respond to different traffic conditions, saving time and fuel as well as relieving congestion. Connected smart bins can alert the authorities when the bin is full so the waste collection can move from a pre-decided itinerary to a need-based frequency. Security camera networks can make cities safer. Reducing fossil fuel consumption is another important step towards a sustainable and cleaner environment. Europe has taken the lead in installing connected charging stations, which has led to a steeper adoption of electric vehicles.
An example of a sustainable city is Peachtree Corners, 20 miles north of Atlanta. The city has smart buildings, connected highways, sensors, cameras, and other smart devices. Bosch is testing its intelligent video analytics with machine learning capabilities on the roads in Peachtree Corners, covering a connected intersection, driverless vehicles, teleoperated scooters, and autonomous package delivery. Singapore has taken the smart city concept to the next level. Recently, Singapore completed work on the world’s first digital twin of an entire nation. Bentley Systems tools accelerated the process of transforming raw GIS, LiDAR, and imagery data into reality mesh, building, and transportation models of the country.
In Summary
Sustainability need not be at odds with development and industry. The use of technology and the right intent can help us achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030. IoT, undoubtedly one of the largest enablers of digital transformation, has the potential to be the game changer for sustainability. To increase the industry’s awareness of this, the World Economic Forum (WEF) came up with a set of guidelines in 2018 for IoT’s role in providing a sustainable future. We sincerely hope that the world overachieves the sustainability goals for the sake of our future.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global marketplace has been abuzz with the term ‘digital transformation’, which is the strategic adoption of digital technologies. Although it has the potential to unlock great value in organizations, there has been little development on this front due to the fragmented ecosystem and companies’ inability to come together and partner for project implementation. In June this year, Siemens launched its open digital business platform, called Siemens Xcelerator, to boost digital transformation and value creation for customers of all types.
Last week, Siemens entered partnerships with Volta Trucks and Automotive Cell Company (ACC) to strengthen its offerings in the transportation industry. With this, Siemens Xcelerator now has partnerships with 58 companies.
What is Siemens Xcelerator?
Siemens Xcelerator is an open digital business platform featuring a curated portfolio of IoT-enabled hardware and software, an ecosystem of partners and a marketplace. With Siemens Xcelerator, the company aims to make digital transformation easier and faster, helping organisations move projects beyond the pilot stage. The key building blocks of the platform are interoperability, flexibility, openness and strong cybersecurity.
A good example of how Siemens Xcelerator aims to make a difference is the immersive digital twin technology, which makes a virtual replica of a product or service. Siemens has partnered with NVIDIA to enable an industrial Metaverse and increase the use of the AI-driven digital twin technology. Having a digital twin significantly reduces time-to-market and development time as it allows rapid iterations. Siemens is a pioneer in the digital twin technology and has established several partnerships in this space. It partnered with Bentley in 2016 to develop digital twins for the process industry. With NVIDIA’s Omniverse, Siemens aims to create immersive digital twins accessible to everyone. Companies of all sizes will be able to deploy the digital twin technology and receive real-time performance data, create innovative industrial IoT solutions, leverage actionable insights from analytics at the edge or in the cloud, and tackle the engineering challenges of tomorrow by making visually rich and immersive simulations more accessible.
Viewpoint
Integration among operational technology (OT), information technology (IT), and new digital technologies has been the bugbear of digital transformation. In a recent Bain survey of 500 industrial IoT decision makers, 41% of the respondents described integration to be very complex and their biggest challenge. It is great to see Siemens, which has traditionally been a strong OT/IT player, bring its knowledge and expertise into integration. Digital transformation is much more than just applications and software as hardware plays a role just as important. For digital transformation to achieve greater heights, hardware and software must converge or the idea will remain a mirage.
Siemens is betting massively on its digital business by partnering with key industry players, such as NVIDIA and Microsoft, and making acquisitions such as that of Brightly Software and Zona Technology earlier this year. The company expects the acquisitions to play a significant role in creating vertical-specific offerings. Siemens managed to partner with 58 companies within three months of launching Siemens Xcelerator. It started on the right note by striking early partnerships with NVIDIA, Microsoft, Accenture, SAP, Bentley, and more. The partnerships with Volta Trucks and ACC will help Siemens expand its offerings in the electric automotive space. Siemens has been a vocal supporter of openness and creating a marketplace/ecosystem is a logical move. The industrial Metaverse is an interesting initial use case and its first pilot solution will be developed at BMW’s showcase electric vehicle manufacturing site in Hungary. The success of the industrial Metaverse will be closely watched by industry observers.
What caught our eye is the Siemens Xcelerator Academy, which supports customers in their digital transformation journey. The academy offers customers learning opportunities across the globe in different formats. Customer education and problem-solving is key to removing barriers for the successful implementation of digital transformation. We are so focused on technology that we often overlook the softer aspects of customer training and then wonder why the projects are not scaling up.
At Counterpoint Research, we believe that partnerships between various ecosystem players is the only way to achieve the promise of digital transformation. There is no one company that can solve all the challenges of digital transformation. “Partner or perish” is a clear choice and an initiative like the Siemens Xcelerator is a move in the right direction, though it may be still in its early days.
Industry veteran Mohit Agrawal appointed as Associate Director, Internet of Things
With over two decades of experience, Mohit bolsters Counterpoint’s already strong IoT practice
He will focus on the IoT developments and adjacent technologies to bring both current context and future-oriented analysis to Counterpoint’s IoT clients
Amsterdam, London, Mumbai, Boston, Toronto, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul – September 6th, 2022
Counterpoint Research, a global industry analysis firm, has appointed Mohit Agrawal as Associate Director in the firm’s Internet of Things (IoT) research practice. Mohit will be based in the Netherlands covering IoT research and intelligence for global markets. He will be responsible for supporting clients with insights into the IoT space enabling them to realize the full potential of IoT and achieve their enterprise goals.
Mohit brings over two decades of rich industry experience, having worked with tech companies like Accenture, Airtel, Nokia, and Microsoft in the past. Most recently, Mohit was the co-founder & CEO of a start-up in the competitive and market intelligence space utilizing big data and AI. He has been a keen follower of the developments in devices and key internet technologies. He has a solid track record in consulting, strategy, and market intelligence with a global outlook, having lived in India and Singapore before moving to the Netherlands.
Commenting on his appointment, Mohit said, “I am excited to join Counterpoint Research at a time when the world is on the cusp of a revolution. Post-pandemic, enterprises have enhanced their focus on digital transformation by blending in key technologies like IoT, AI and Blockchain, while consumers are looking for better experiences and more convenience in a sustainable way.”
“Service providers across the value chain are also seeking to maximise returns in what is, in many cases, a fragmented and difficult-to-navigate market. I am looking forward to following IoT developments and the confluence of adjacent technologies over the next decade and beyond”.
Commenting on Mohit’s appointment, Research Vice President, Neil Shah, states, “Counterpoint Research has established a strong position in IoT research, covering every aspect from semiconductors to the cloud and across multiple application areas. Mohit joins an already strong team and will enable us to bring more overarching and future-oriented analysis to our clients.”
Background
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects, and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.
Analyst Contacts:
Counterpoint Research
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COVID-19 has brought forth the power of digital transformation. To sustain and quicken the pace of this transformation after the pandemicends, Industry 4.0 (or the Fourth Industrial Revolution) can be of much help. It has the potential to retool and rebuild economies in the post-pandemic world through smart infrastructure, integrated automation and cloud innovation.
Emerging manufacturing and tech economies like China, South Korea, Taiwan and even India have already been coming out with policies to push Industry 4.0. In South Korea, the government has introduced a legislation to promote IT integration with key sectors like automobiles and shipbuilding and develop Centres of Excellence and Innovation. Not only this, the South Korean government is also working towards its vision of Industry 4.0, betting the country’s future on AI, IoT and smart factories.
Similar work is underway in China under the ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative, which seeks to enhance the country’s global competitiveness by reconfiguring its major industrial sectors, especially semiconductors, AI, robotics and next-generation technologies. Moreover, under its New Generation AI Development Plan, China aims to dominate the AI sector by 2030. The country’s AI targets for the years 2020, 2025 and 2030 are already finalized:
2020: To bring China’s AI up to global standards.
2025: To establish AI laws for the intelligent manufacturing, medicine, agriculture and urban planning sectors.
2030: To become the world’s leading AI developer.
What is interesting to see is that most of these developments took place in emerging economies over the past few decades. Supply of cheap labour, rising demand, new market opportunities, growing middle class and greater access for multinationals created a conducive environment to bring about the change in manufacturing supply chain.
At the same time, international trade and the supply chain ecosystem has been affected by the nationalist stance taken by many governments. Some latest examples include the ‘anti-China’ sentiment due to COVID-19 and the ban on Huawei in the US and some European markets. However, Industry 4.0 not only has the potential to remodel manufacturing ecosystems around the world but also influence the complex macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures surrounding them.
How and what will change?
Statistics suggest that by the year 2025, the emerging economies of China, Brazil, India, Indonesia and South Korea will account for more than half of the global growth. Such a shift is capable of giving rise to a newer stratum of economies driving the manufacturing revolution and Industry 4.0 vision. This is particularly becoming true for economies like China which have managed to prosper through the development of their manufacturing sector.
Today, both Indian and Chinese economies form a mere 5% of the global middle class consumption while Japan, US and Europe take almost 60% share. According to projections, these shares are expected to equalize by 2050. Further, the rise in middle class demand will be the driving force and almost 80% of this demand is expected to come from Asia.
Road ahead
It would be interesting to see who takes the lead in Industry 4.0 era. On the one hand, we have the incumbent powers (developed economies) betting hard on their strength in R&D, smart technology and manufacturing ecosystem, while on the other, we have the rising powers (developing economies) betting hard on their ability to provide low-cost labour and favourable regulatory procedures, along with a growing population that can support demand.
While the West may still hold the reins when it comes to the current technological scenario, this may change in coming years. With significant leads in IoT, AI, robotics and smart tech and manufacturing, along with low-cost labour, new market opportunities and evolving bilateral and multilateral trade pacts, the era of Industry 4.0 does not seem very distant for the developing countries of the East.
As the IoT ecosystem continues to expand, security cannot be neglected. This is especially true for devices that gather and store personal data. And while securing every computing system is almost impossible, service providers need to add a layer of security to thwart most attacks. There are four layers of security – hardware, software, network and cloud. But what challenges do companies face during deployment?
In this episode of “The Counterpoint Podcast” host and VP of Research, Peter Richardson and Research Analyst Satyajit Sinha discuss “The Future of IoT Security” with our guest, Kumi Thiruchelvam, CCO, Crypto Quantique. The discussion isn’t just limited to IoT Security, but we’ve also touched upon topics like Quantum Tunneling.
Hit the play button below to listen to our podcast
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At Counterpoint Research, we believe that partnerships between various ecosystem players is the only way to achieve the promise of digital transformation. There is no one company that can solve all the challenges of digital transformation. “Partner or perish” is a clear choice and an initiative like the Siemens Xcelerator is a move in the right direction, though it may be still in its early days.
