Connected devices are expected to reach billions over the next few years with the curerent growth curve showing something like 50 per cent CAGR says Northstream. But in an advanced case of diminishing returns, it turns out that the most valuable use cases have now been connected. The financial case for connectivity is marginal for the next generation of devices and deployment will slow until costs fall sufficiently. That won’t happen in 2014.

The cost of connecting a device to a non WiFi mobile network is, on average, six times more for mobile; power requirements are higher; solution development costs are higher for mobile than for Wi-Fi because of fragmentation between multiple operator platforms and markets.

So says Northstream: “Wi-Fi has a clear connectivity limitation when compared to mobile, most notably in mobility, reliability and coverage. On the other hand, there is a large pool of applications which are as, or nearly as, suited to Wi-Fi as mobile. These ‘non-critical’ use cases will constitute the bulk of connections in the next year as the mobile industry works to address the higher barriers to connectivity over their networks.”