IDC Projects IoT Market Will Grow 16.7 Percent This Year

International Data Corp. (IDC), the market research firm, updated its projections for the Internet of Things, or IOT, market, projecting the market with grow 16.7 percent this year, reaching slightly over $800 billion.

In a press release announcing its new forecast, IDC said that by 2021 global IoT spending will reach close to $1.4 trillion, driven by companies’ continued investment in hardware, software, services and connectivity to enable IoT.

“The discussion about IoT has shifted away from the number of devices connected,” said Carrie MacGillivray, vice president, Internet of Things and Mobility at IDC, in the press release. “The true value of IoT is being realized when the software and services come together to enable the capture, interpretation and action on data produced by IoT endpoints. With our Worldwide IoT Spending Guide, IDC provides insight into key use cases where investment is being made to achieve the business value and transformation promised by the Internet of Things.”

According to the market research firm, the areas of the IoT market that is likely to attract the biggest investments this year include manufacturing operations, freight monitoring and production asset management. Smart technology for electricity, gas and water and smart building technologies are also forecast to see significant investments this year. IDC said that while these use cases will remain the largest areas of IoT spending in 2021, smart home technologies are forecast to experience strong growth over the five-year forecast. The use cases that will see the fastest spending growth are airport facilities automation, electric vehicle charging and in-store contextual marketing. Among the industries making the biggest IoT investments this year include manufacturing, transportation and utilities. Cross-industry IoT investments, which represent use cases common to all industries, such as connected vehicles and smart technology buildings, will be $86 billion in 2017 and rank among the top segments throughout the five-year forecast, noted IDC. Meanwhile, consumer IoT purchases will be the fourth largest market segment in 2017, at $62 billion, but will grow to become the third largest segment in 2021.