IDC forecasts IoT spending to hit $1.3 trillion by 2019, driven by APAC

Analyst IDC is forecasting global spending on all things IoT to almost double to $1.3 trillion over the next three years.

Scott Bicheno

December 11, 2015

2 Min Read
IDC forecasts IoT spending to hit $1.3 trillion by 2019, driven by APAC

Analyst IDC is forecasting global spending on all things IoT to almost double to $1.3 trillion over the next three years.

Regionally over 40% of the $700 billion currently spent on IoT comes from APAC, which isn’t too surprising as that’s by far the largest region by population. North America and Western Europe are the second and third largest regions, which again is as you would expect, while Latin America is forecast to experience the fastest growth in IoT spend.

“The Asia/Pacific region’s robust IoT spending outlook builds on three dynamics,” said IDC’s Marcus Torchia. “Developing countries’ technology investment needs are not fully met with traditional IT, which is allowing IoT investments to accelerate. Government investments in infrastructure development and local business modernization, in China, India and the Philippines for example, are incorporating more and more IoT elements. And a burgeoning new consumer class is accelerating expenditures in goods and services, including those with IoT components.”

In terms of industry, manufacturing is the clear leader in current IoT spend at $166 billion – nearly a quarter of the total – and transport comes next with $79 billion. Insurance, healthcare and consumer are forecast to be the fastest growing IoT industries, with consumer expected move into third place by 2019.

“Manufacturing and Transportation are both a good fit for IoT deployments,” said Vernon Turner , od IDC. “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.”

Here’s what IDC has to say about industries on a regional basis:

  • In Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East & Africa the fastest growing IoT category is smart buildings, where IoT technology that utilizes advanced automation and integration is being used to measure, monitor, control, and optimize building operations and maintenance.

  • In Latin America, the fastest growing IoT category is maintenance & field service, where service data is automatically measured, recorded, and transferred remotely from the field for monitoring and use by technicians.

  • In Asia/Pacific, insurance telematics is being used to monitor driver behaviour through a vehicle-mounted device and the data is rapidly being employed as a means of determining insurance policies and rates.

  • In North America, in-store contextual marketing is growing rapidly as retailers seek to capture continuous, real-time streams of data from mobile devices, online customer activity, in-store Wi-Fi routers/beacons, and video cameras in order to gain insight into customer behaviour and desires.

About the Author

Scott Bicheno

As the Editorial Director of Telecoms.com, Scott oversees all editorial activity on the site and also manages the Telecoms.com Intelligence arm, which focuses on analysis and bespoke content.
Scott has been covering the mobile phone and broader technology industries for over ten years. Prior to Telecoms.com Scott was the primary smartphone specialist at industry analyst Strategy Analytics’. Before that Scott was a technology journalist, covering the PC and telecoms sectors from a business perspective.
Follow him @scottbicheno

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