IoT install base to grow 31% in 2017: Gartner

There will be nearly 8.4 billion connected things in use by the end of the year, up 31% from 2016, Gartner predicts.

The number of IoT devices in use will surge to 20.4 trillion by 2020, with consumers leading the adoption charge, the research firm said.

Consumer products are predicted to represent 63% of all IoT applications in 2017, with the most popular applications being automotive system, smart TVs and digital set-top boxes.

But use of IoT in business is also increasing. Gartner predicts that businesses will be employing 3.1 billion connected things in 2017, with a particular focus on smart electric meters and commercial security cameras.

Applications tailored to specific industry verticals are currently driving the adoption of the IoT in business, but from 2018 cross-industry devices such as those targeted at smart buildings will take the lead.

By 2020, cross-industry device adoption will reach 4.4 billion units, while vertical-specific devices will amount to 3.2 billion units.

While consumers purchase more devices, businesses spend more on IoT deployments, with business IoT spending on track to represent 57% of the nearly US$2 trillion ($2.61 trillion) market in 2017. By 2020, hardware spending from both segments combined is also set to reach nearly US$3 trillion.

Total IoT services spending is meanwhile on track to reach US$273 billion this year. “IoT services are central to the rise in IoT devices,” Gartner Research Director Denise Rueb noted.

“Services are dominated by the professional IoT-operational technology category in which providers assist businesses in designing, implementing and operating IoT systems. However, connectivity services and consumer services will grow at a faster pace. Consumer IoT services are newer and growing off a small base. Similarly, connectivity services are growing robustly as costs drop and new applications emerge.”

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