Gateways Power Nearly Every IoT Market as ABI Research Forecasts Global Shipments to Exceed 64 Million Units in 2021

IoT gateways, which manage and control complex connected environments by aggregating and transmitting sensor data, as well as translating communication protocols, are on the rise. ABI Research forecasts IoT gateway shipments will grow to exceed 64 million units in 2021. While home automation and security market components will account for well over 50% of all IoT gateway shipments over the next five years, it will be the mobility and transportation segments, as well as industrial and infrastructure, which generate the most revenue.

“The home automation and security market relies on gateways for aggregating and orchestrating communications between an increasing variety of home sensors and cloud services,” says Dan Shey, Managing Director and Vice President at ABI Research. “However, this segment will only represent around 30% of the market’s five-year value. This is because gateways in the home do not have the same requirements for ruggedness, antenna design, and processor requirements as gateways used in industrial and commercial settings.”

ABI Research finds the higher priced, albeit lower volume, sectors are mobility and transportation, as well as industrial and infrastructure. IoT gateway opportunities in fleet management are small, but growing. Companies such as Omnitracs, PeopleNet, and Sierra Wireless and are offering gateways for multi-application communications in fleet vehicles, such as critical event reporting, fault monitoring, and navigation. The industrial and infrastructure market segment, meanwhile, relies on many traditional markets like smart grid and video surveillance. Looking ahead, this segment will also benefit from new higher growth markets through applications in the smart cities and manufacturing/process industries.

“There are many traditional names that have been serving the M2M/IoT gateway market for years, such as CalAmp, Cisco, Cradlepoint, Digi International, Eurotech, and Sierra Wireless,” concludes Shey.  “But these big name players are just a small share of the total supplier base, which includes both branded and white label vendors. In this growing IoT market, consolidation is not expected anytime soon and suppliers are increasingly turning to software and services to differentiate.”

These findings are from ABI Research’s M2M/IoT Routers and Gateways. This report is part of the company’s Enterprise IT & OT Convergence sector, which includes research, data, and analyst insights.