Internet of Things spending is now forecast to reach an eye-watering $1.3 trillion (£860 billion) by 2019, with three sectors in particular leading the early deployments.
Market research firm IDC has published its latest ‘Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide’ report, which reveals that spending is due to increase 17 percent over the next four years, with the Asia/Pacific region accounting for more than 40 percent of the worldwide total this year alone.
North America and Western Europe are the second and third largest regions respectively, with a combined spending of $250 billion in 2015, while Latin America is expected to achieve the fastest growth over the next five years ((26.5 percent CAGR).
Looking at vertical specifics, IDC says that manufacturing and transportation are leading the way with IoT spending and deployments.
“Manufacturing and Transportation are both a good fit for IoT deployments,” said IDC’s IoT Research Fellow Vernon Turner, in a statement. “Both industries have been connecting their supply chains, products, customers, and even workers for some time now, and really embrace the value of business outcomes.”
Manufacturing spending on IoT is forecast to hit $165.6 billion in 2015, with transportation growing to $78.7 billion. Insurance, healthcare and consumer products are expected to have a larger presence in the coming years.
Interestingly, the report notes that IoT deployments and use cases vary considerably by region.
For example, in central and eastern Europe (CEE) and the Middle East and Africa (MEA), the fastest growing IoT category is smart buildings, where IoT technology which utilises advanced automation and integration is being used to measure, monitor, control, and optimise building operations and maintenance.
Yet in Latin America, the fastest growing IoT category is maintenance and field service, where service data is automatically measured, recorded, and transferred remotely from the field for monitoring and use by technicians.
In APAC, insurance telematics is used to monitor driver behavior through an in-car camera, with the collected data used to determine insurance policies and rates.
And once again it is different in North America, where IoT is heavily geared up towards the use of in-store Wi-Fi routers/beacons and cameras for in-store contextual marketing in retail stores. They do so to capture in-store and online customer activity.