IoT growth has passed the $737 billion mark, with projections estimated at $1.3 trillion by the year 2020. Here are some details on what’s driving the industry’s market showings recently:
Semiconductors
Gartner Inc predicts that semiconductor spending will rise by nearly three percent in 2017, which ultimately derives from the continued growth of the smart phone market. NAND flash technology is driving the semiconductor market climb, and you can benefit from this by expanding your investment in dopants and other component materials necessary for semiconductor production. As IoT technology makes its way into an increasing number of traditionally unconnected devices, expect this trend to surge further and your investment to continue paying off.
Moderate Demand Worldwide
International Data Corp claims that southeast Asia is leading the global charge to upgrade its IoT infrastructure. While investment in Asian countries outside of Japan is a large catch-up operation, most of the rest of the world’s upgrades to IoT in 2017 will be more restrained. Budgets continue to grow and consumer demand keeps rising moderately, but market saturation has led to an increase in technology being a function of social status on the consumer side and liability protection on the business side in most highly developed countries.
Vertical Integration
Utilities, manufacturing and transportation made the largest infrastructural investments in IoT in 2016, and this trend should carry into 2017. With the vertical integration of manufacturing and transportation, IoT is allowing a streamlining of logistics in many industries. These investments may slow toward the latter part of 2017, as slower-acting companies work to catch up to their more forward-thinking competitors.
Healthcare, Insurance and Retail
Industries that have thus far largely eschewed adopting IoT have been more conservative, particularly consumer-facing industries such as retail, insurance and healthcare. As costs climb in the healthcare sector and consumer pricing demands become more margin-narrowing, these industries are working to finally take on IoT by increasing their infrastructure. As the healthcare industry’s need for communication along several lines of patient care increases and consumer tolerance for mistakes decreases, so will the industry’s need for smart tools and the ability to chronicle shortages of consumable goods.
The IoT field is expanding steadily, and will continue through and well beyond 2017. New industries and more nations worldwide are adopting this new level of connectivity. There are no massive explosions of growth to report, but overall the outlook is good.
Source: Solid State Technology