According to a report by Counterpoint Research, global cellular internet of things (IoT) module shipments saw a 2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline in Q3 2023. Weaker demand, rising interest rates and cautious spending from enterprise IoT players are some of the important factors for the slowdown in this market.
As per the report, for the first time, the 5G market’s share in the global cellular IoT module market crossed 5 per cent, indicating traction for 5G adoption. However, 5G applications are currently limited due to the lack of killer use cases and higher prices. Early adoption is being witnessed only in the router/consumer premises equipment (CPE), PC and automotive markets.
The report finds that the IoT module market is undergoing a technology transition from 4G Cat 1 and narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) to 4G Cat 1 bis. The low-cost and power-efficient 4G Cat 1 bis is becoming popular for many applications, including point of sale (POS), smart meter, telematics and asset tracking.
Commenting on the report, Mohit Agrawal, associate director, Counterpoint Research, said, “The top five applications, encompassing smart meter, automotive, POS, router/CPE and telematics, accounted for over 60 per cent of total cellular IoT module shipments this quarter. Notably, only the smart meter and router/CPE segments observed positive growth in shipments, with other applications experiencing a decline. India stands out as the only region to register positive growth in the global cellular IoT module market. Conversely, the market outside of China and India saw a steeper decline compared to China. Contrary to industry expectations, the market is not gaining momentum.”
Meanwhile, Soumen Mandal, senior research analyst, Counterpoint Research, said, “Global cellular IoT module shipments are projected to experience a 5 per cent YoY decline in 2023. However, demand revival is expected by the second half of 2024, with substantial growth predicted for 2025, coinciding with the mass adoption of 5G and 5G RedCap. In the long term, the cellular IoT module market holds promise and applications such as smart meter, router/CPE, POS, automotive and asset tracking will be driving most of the growth for this market.”
