The number of machines connected to mobile networks in Europe will grow by 34.2% in 2008 and reach 14.1 million at the end of the year, according Berg Insight. The total number of mobile network connections used by machines equals that of a middle-sized European country.
What's more, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.9%, this number is expected to reach 58.6 million by 2013. Much of the growth will come from motor vehicles whose share of the installed base is expected to double from about 30% in 2008 to 60% in 2013, and to continue growing for many years to come.
Berg Insight strongly advises mobile operators to embrace this market and position themselves to make the most of the growth.
The new report from Berg Insight identifies the major differences in the types of machines that are being connected to mobile networks in different European countries.
For example, Scandinavia has a very high proportion of smart energy meters, while Germany and Italy mainly have motor vehicles and the Spanish market is dominated by security alarms and POS-terminals. Other countries such as the UK have a more diversified market landscape.
There are also significant variations in the share of machine-to-machine SIM cards, compared to the total number of SIM cards. Sweden and Finland were found to have the highest rates of 13.4% and 7.7% respectively, several times higher than the average 2.2%.
Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst, Berg Insight