Berg Insight estimates that global cellular M2M module shipments increased by 19.4 percent in 2015 to a new record level of 96.0 million. A somewhat higher growth rate is expected for 2016.

Until 2020, shipments of cellular M2M devices are forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.7 percent to reach 256.0 million units. East Asia, North America and Western Europe were the main geographical markets in 2015, accounting for around 75 percent of the total demand. The regions are similar in size measured by volume.

Berg Insight projects that the relationship in relative market shares between the three regions will remain relatively stable in the coming five years. The latest 3GPP standards for LTE – Cat 1, Cat M1, and Cat M2 – will contribute substantially to growth in the next coming five years. These new standards are designed to be less complex to limit power consumption and are priced more favorably to address the mass market and make it viable to connect entirely new applications.

The results of Berg Insight’s latest cellular M2M module vendor market share assessment show that the three largest module vendors have 72 percent of the market in terms of revenues.

“Annual module revenues for the three largest market players Sierra Wireless, Gemalto and Telit increased by 12.5 percent to US$ 1.12 billion, with the total market value reaching approximately US$ 1.6 billion,” says Johan Fagerberg, CEO at Sweden-based M2M/IoT analyst firm Berg Insight. Sierra Wireless leads M2M module revenues, followed by Telit and Gemalto. SIMCom Wireless leads in shipments for the first time in 2015, but is only in fourth place in terms of revenues.