Berg Insight
estimates that global cellular IoT module shipments increased by 14 percent to
a new record level of 303 million in 2020.
Annual revenues grew slower at 8 percent to reach
US$ 3.4 billion. While the COVID-19 pandemic affected demand in several major
application areas in 2020, the global chipset shortage will have a broader
impact on the market in 2021 and curb growth of IoT device
shipments in the near term. Until 2025, Berg Insight
forecasts that cellular IoT module shipments will grow at a
compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.8 percent to reach 629.6 million
units.
The results of Berg Insight’s latest cellular IoT
module vendor market share assessment show that the five
largest module vendors, including Quectel, Sierra Wireless, Sunsea AIoT,
Fibocom and Thales, have 71 percent of the market in terms of revenues.
Fredrik Stalbrand, Senior Analyst at IoT analyst
firm Berg Insight, says:
“The performance of the top vendors varied markedly
in the year, to some extent due to different exposure to geographical and
vertical markets that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
China-based Quectel and Fibocom experienced the
highest module sales growth at around 40 percent, driven by strong demand for
4G LTE and LPWA products. In the coming year, Quectel is set to surpass the US$
1 billion mark in annual revenues, the first of any cellular IoT module
provider.
Following the commercial availability of 5G modules
in mid-2020, several IoT device makers launched 5G devices during the year.
These include a number of IoT gateway vendors, as well as car makers in China.
A wider range of IoT devices supporting 5G networks are expected to reach the
market in 2021 and beyond as network coverage improves and IoT-optimised modems
become available in volume with attractive pricing.
Another key accelerator for the adoption of 5G in the IoT
market will be support for reduced capability (RedCap)
devices that will be introduced in the upcoming 3GPP Release 17. Sometimes also
called NR Light, RedCap devices will be less expensive compared to the 5G
devices that are being deployed today and offer higher data rates than LPWA
technologies like LTE-M and NB-IoT. Modules supporting the specification will
likely reach the market in 2023 and increase the addressable market for 5G NR
into use cases like wearables, video surveillance and industrial monitoring.