Gartner: 5.5m ‘Things’ Added To IoT Every Day In 2016

As many as 5.5 million devices will be connected every day in 2016 as the total number of ‘things’ comprising the Internet of Things (IoT) reaches 6.4 billion next year, according to Gartner.

Researchers at the firm expect the IoT will support services totaling $235bn next year – up two percent from this year – and will continue to rise as more devices are connected.

IoT growth                                               

Consumer devices will be the most prevalent, accounting for four billion of all M2M connections, but business ‘things’ will become more common as companies seek to harness the benefits of IoT.

The Internet of Things is widely regarded as the next big thing in IT, allowing businesses across all industries to become more efficient and target new markets. Equipment manufacturers, service providers and telcos are all keen to secure as much of the market as possible and have dedicated significant resources to the IoT.

Next year there will be 1 billion ‘cross-vertical’ things and 1.3 billion industry-specific things connected to the IoT. Cross-industry devices include smart light bulbs and management systems while there are a variety of devices unique to the health, construction and logistics industries among others.

The economies of scale of cross-industry applications mean they will be cheaper than those developed for specific sectors. By 2020, it is expected there will be 20.8 billion things, including 13.5 billion consumer devices, 4.4 billion cross-industry units and 2.8 billion industry specific connections.

“IoT services are the real driver of value in IoT, and increasing attention is being focused on new services by end-user organisations and vendors,” added Tully “Aside from connected cars, consumer uses will continue to account for the greatest number of connected things, while enterprise will account for the largest spending.”