In their most recent report, Mobile Experts (www.mobile-experts.net) released exclusive analysis on Asset Tracking IoT Devices. The research group says that, over the past three years, technology changes have started to transform the market.
Unlicensed LPWA, LTE-M, and NB-IoT dramatically improve long-range communications with inexpensive modules that can run for years on a small battery. Other improvements in Bluetooth and UWB technology also improve precision and range for indoor location of devices.
“Basic tracking technologies, like bar codes and RFID, are used heavily in retail and logistics areas today. Around 9.6 billion RFID tags were used in 2016…despite the limitations in range and lack of real-time tracking capability. This marks an important baseline in Asset Tracking because low-cost RFID or bar-code tracking represent indirect competition for investment in enterprise markets….and RFID cost is only $0.10 to $0.50 per tag,” commented Principal Analyst Joe Madden.
Mobile Experts says that roughly 10 million NB-IoT bicycles will be deployed in China this year. LoRa devices will be found on pallets, trucks, fork lifts, and other key assets. Hospitals that use Wi-Fi to track major assets will have new options for tracking medicines, organs, and other highly critical items. Cattle ranchers can increase yield by as much as 10-20% by preventing theft, injury, or other problems with the herd.
“Overall, we expect annual shipments of Asset Tracking IoT devices to grow from 22 million to 70 million by 2022,” said Madden.
”What’s more, about half of these devices will send data through a Cloud-based service provider, driving service revenue growth from $2.2B in 2016 to $7.5B in 2022.”