Smart metering will account for over 40% of the 400 million M2M connected devices by 2016, according to a Juniper Research report.
While revenues per connection lag behind those of other M2M segments, the increasing volume of smart meter deployment means that this area of the broader M2M market will create a significant revenue stream in its own right.
Juniper found that organisations upholding a direct relationship with the end-customer would benefit most from this new market. Services that offer both to enable and to manage connectivity will be the main winners, rather than those that offer only connectivity.
“High device numbers in the smart metering area of the M2M market will mean that smart metering will remain an important corner stone of the M2M industry,” said Anthony Cox, associate analyst at Juniper Research.
“Automotive telematics and embedded consumer electronics devices are also gaining momentum, so the revenue prospects of M2M as a whole are improving.”
Annual revenues from M2M services are predicted to exceed US$35bn by 2016. Lead times and deployment rates differ significantly according to the industry, as well as the size and complexity of deployment.
Developed markets, particularly the USA, are leading both in terms of deployment and awareness of M2M. Remote healthcare offers significant long-term promise for M2M, though the reports says deployment will be limited over the next five years.
Class action lawsuits in the USA have, to some extent, dented the prospects for smart metering projects.
The report includes an analysis of the current state of play in the embedded mobile and M2M market and contains five-year forecasts for M2M device numbers, service revenues, connectivity enablement revenues and data traffic values.
