Jay Clemens
Gartner has predicted the number of connected devices to reach 25 billion by 2020, a nearly five-fold increase from the 4.9 billion projected for 2015.
Gartner said Tuesday the automotive sector will see a 96-percent growth of connected things in 2015 and that consumer applications will drive the expansion of Internet of Things.
The forecasts also says the utilities industry will be the largest vertical in the IoT by 2020, with manufacturing second and the government in third.
“Government will take the No. 3 spot as it invests in smart street and area lighting for energy saving reasons,†said Jim Tully, a vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner.
“The digital shift instigated by the nexus of forces (cloud, mobile, social and information), and boosted by IoT, threatens many existing businesses. They have no choice but to pursue IoT, like they’ve done with the consumerization of IT.”
Gartner also predicts the IoT to support $69.5 billion in total services spending for 2015 and $263 billion by 2020.
