More than 6.4 billion connected “things” will be in use worldwide in 2016, as the much-lauded Internet of Things (IoT) takes hold, market research firm Gartner has estimated.
The number should reach 20.8 billion by 2020, Gartner analyst Jim Tully told the research firm’s Symposium/ITxpo in Barcelona late last week. In 2016, some 5.5 million new things will get connected every day, he said.
Gartner estimates that the Internet of Things will support total services spending of US$235 billion in 2016, up 22 percent from 2015.
“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,” Tully said.
Services will be dominated by the professional category but connectivity services and consumer services will grow at a faster pace, Tully said.
“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,” Tully added.
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.
The installed base in 2016 should consist of 4.02 billion consumer units; 1.09 billion cross-industry business units; and 1.27 billion vertical-specific business units.
Gartner says cross-industry devices include things like connected light bulbs, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) and building management systems deployed for purposes of cost saving.
Vertical-specific devices include things like specialised equipment used in hospital operating theatres and tracking devices in container ships.
