1.15 Billion 5G Smartphones by 2025 and 35 Other Transformative Technology Stats You Need to Know

The world is faced with major instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. presidential election, Brexit, global trade wars, and many other societal currents. These headwinds are forcing companies and industry sectors to accelerate their digital transformations in order to survive and compete. In its new whitepaper, The 36 Transformative Technology Stats You Need to Know for 2021, global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research has combined these two facts to identify and highlight the lesser-known stats that illuminate the direction in which digital transformation is truly heading.

“We have selected, from among the many millions of data points ABI Research creates each year, to focus on some enlightening data points that matter in the year ahead. Aspects like Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML), private cellular networks, Open Radio Access Network (RAN), blockchain, smart manufacturing platforms, and even connected cows point to how technology advancements are allowing our physical world to be better connected, managed, and efficient,” Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research Officer at ABI Research explains.

Some stats highlighted in the whitepaper include:

5G Devices, Smartphones & Wearables:

5G smartphone sales will expand exponentially, reaching 1.15 billion units by 2025 and accounting for more than 70% of total smartphone sales, becoming the most accelerated mobile technology generation ever launched. “5G smartphone sales will increase more aggressively compared to 4G and, in comparison to growth at launch, 5G will outperform its predecessor on nearly every metric, including the number of mobile devices, subscribers, and networks,” forecasts Research Director David McQueen.

Augmented & Virtual Reality:

The AR Media and Entertainment landscape is expected to dramatically grow in the coming years, climbing from US$732 million in 2020 to US$18 billion in 2025. “While enterprise value drove growth early in the augmented reality market story, both number of users and perceived value in the consumer space growing will build out a significant AR market,” Research Director Eric Abbruzzese explains.

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies:

ICTs will reach a potential market value of US$7.5 billion by 2025. “Dampened interest and increased risk-aversion have contracted revenue-generating opportunities, with revenues down 35% YoY between 2018 and 2019, and the trend continuing throughout 2020. As a result, the market is not expected to climb back up to 2018 levels before 2022-2023,” predicts Research Director Michela Menting.

Industrial, Collaborative & Commercial Robotics:

Through improvements in sensors, algorithms, and processing, Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) are becoming increasingly popular. “So popular that by 2025 AMRs will exceed Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) in global revenue—US$35,266 million versus US$30,452 million,” forecasts Senior Analyst Rian Whitton.

Industrial and Manufacturing:

The number of connections forecast to grow from 1.4 million in 2019 to 20.9 million in 2025 (at a CAGR of 57%). “The rapid growth in connections reveals that solutions based on AR are fast becoming a mainstream technology on the factory floor,” says Principal Analyst Michael Larner.

M2M, IoT & IoE:

By 2026, the number of connected cows will reach 60 million globally, meaning cattle ranchers will be able to have greater visibility into cattle activity and health. “The year 2020 has been a turning point for several verticals, but with the year that saw most of the world in a lockdown due to the pandemic, the agricultural market has seen huge pressure to produce more food. Ag-tech enables farmers and ranchers to be able to remotely monitor their livestock, as well as other types of crops,” Research Analyst Harriet Sumnall explains.

“We are at the very beginnings of a massive technological evolution and the forecasts presented in this paper are but a series of tea leaves at the bottom of the fortune teller’s cup. They are easy to dismiss but are very important directional indicators of the technology-enabled world of the future,” Carlaw concludes.

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