Gartner Says 6.4 Billion Connected “Things” Will Be in Use in 2016, Up 30 Percent From 2015
Analysts to Explore the Value and Impact of IoT on Business at
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2015, November 8-12 in Barcelona, Spain
BARCELONA, Spain–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Gartner, Inc. forecasts that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use
worldwide in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 20.8 billion
by 2020. In 2016, 5.5 million new things will get connected every day.
Gartner estimates that the Internet
of Things (IoT) will support total services spending of $235 billion
in 2016, up 22 percent from 2015. Services are dominated by the
professional category (in which businesses contract with external
providers in order to design, install and operate IoT systems), however
connectivity services (through communications service providers) 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,” said Jim
Tully, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.
Enterprises to Bolster IoT Revenue
“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,” said Mr. Tully. Gartner estimates that 4
billion connected things will be in use in the consumer sector in 2016,
and will reach 13.5 billion in 2020 (see Table 1).
|
Table 1: Internet of Things Units Installed Base by Category |
||||
| Category | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2020 |
| Consumer | 2,277 | 3,023 | 4,024 | 13,509 |
| Business: Cross-Industry | 632 | 815 | 1,092 | 4,408 |
| Business: Vertical-Specific | 898 | 1,065 | 1,276 | 2,880 |
| Grand Total | 3,807 | 4,902 | 6,392 | 20,797 |
|
Source: Gartner (November 2015) |
||||
In terms of hardware spending, consumer applications will amount to $546
billion in 2016, while the use of connected things in the enterprise
will drive $868 billion in 2016 (see Table 2).
|
Table 2: Internet of Things Endpoint Spending by Category |
||||
| Category | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2020 |
| Consumer | 257 | 416 | 546 | 1,534 |
| Business: Cross-Industry | 115 | 155 | 201 | 566 |
| Business: Vertical-Specific | 567 | 612 | 667 | 911 |
| Grand Total | 939 | 1,183 | 1,414 | 3,010 |
|
Source: Gartner (November 2015) |
||||
In the enterprise, Gartner considers two classes of connected things.
The first class consists of generic or cross-industry devices that are
used in multiple industries, and vertical-specific devices that are
found in particular industries.
Cross-industry devices include connected light bulbs, HVAC and building
management systems that are mainly deployed for purposes of cost saving.
The second class includes vertical-specific devices, such as specialised
equipment used in hospital operating theatres, tracking devices in
container ships, and many others.
“Connected things for specialised use are currently the largest
category, however, this is quickly changing with the increased use of
generic devices. By 2020, cross-industry devices will dominate the
number of connected things used in the enterprise,” said Mr. Tully.
About Gartner Symposium/ITxpo
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About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) is the world’s leading information technology
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and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom
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information, visit www.gartner.com.
Contacts
Gartner
Rob van der Meulen, + 44 (0) 1784 267 738
rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com
