Exciting times for M2M?

The three trends driving near term M2M adoption are: the falling costs of M2M hardware; take up amongst smaller organisations; and growth in demand from the manufacturing and consumer electronics markets. While the Americas are currently leaders when it comes to M2M application, Asia Pacific will take the lead within the next two years, with Europe showing accelerated uptake. Erik Brenneis, Vodafone's director of M2M, said: "This report highlights that the next two years are going to be the real game changer for the industry. Smaller companies will, for the first time, be able to reap the benefits of M2M. I think that we are clearly at a tipping point for many industry sectors. Wherever you are in the M2M world, this is an exciting time." The automotive sector is seen as the leading adopter of M2M at 19%, due to the growth in connected cars. It is followed by energy and utilities (13%), transport and logistics (12%), manufacturing and consumer electronics (11%) and consumer goods and retail (10%). The importance of M2M was highlighted by 78% of respondents, who said that M2M will be at the core of successful businesses in the future. While 55% of respondents ranked M2M as a key priority, 9% said it is their company's number one priority. In terms of implementation, 12% of those surveyed have M2M systems in place, with 39% categorised as 'fast followers'. While 17% of the survey's respondents are seen as 'laggards', only 2% have rejected M2M The report concludes 'It's clear that M2M is here to stay. Even those companies that have rejected M2M for now — due to cost, complexity and supplier immaturity — have stated that they would be open to reconsider their decision at a later date as the technology evolves.'