The mobile machine-to-machine (M2M) module market will nearly triple to $4.5 billion by 2018 from $1.6 billion in 2015, said Infonetics Research, an IHS company.

3G will rule the M2M module unit shipments and 4G will emerge as the fastest-growing technology segment in terms of percentage of units against the domination of 2G today.

Asia Pacific is growing most quickly, fuelled by the investments being made in China.

The transport segment is the largest and most important vertical sector, driven by connected car deployments.

Spurred on by regulatory smart grid investments, the growth in utility segment is expected to continue through at least 2018, as European and Asian countries scurry to meet government mandates.

Gemalto / Cinterion, Sierra Wireless, and Telit continue to dominate the M2M module market, together accounting for nearly 2/3 of total market revenue, said Infonetics Research.

Berg Insight, in its August 2014 report, said the share of cellular M2M devices connected to HSPA / LTE networks is projected to more than double from less than 20 percent at the end of 2014 to more than 50 percent by 2018.

3G / 4G is expected to overtake 2G in 2017. HSPA will be the largest technology in an intermittent period until the current price gap to LTE has been closed.

In the U.S., AT&T’s plans to shut down its 2G network have changed the M2M hardware market. A majority of the M2M devices shipped in North America will use 3G technology in 2014.

Europe has a slower rate of adoption as the time horizons for continued operation of 2G networks generally extend well beyond 2020 in most countries. In Asia-Pacific, 3G is the standard technology platform in advanced markets such as Japan.

Baburajan K
[email protected]