TrendForce Predicts Limitless Opportunities in IoT as Everything Becomes Connected to Cloud

The hottest technology trend of 2015 is the Internet of Things (IoT). According to a projection by Topology, a division of TrendForce, IoT-related technologies will mature within the next five to ten years and become applicable in everyday situations. Connected to the cloud and supported by big data analytics, the number of IoT devices is set to grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35% between 2014 and 2020. The scale of the market for IoT devices will surpass the former markets of smart devices and traditional embedded systems during 2015-2016. By 2020, the total quantity of IoT devices worldwide will be over 30 billion units. 

TrendForce’s IT industry analyst Dr. Yvonne Miao expects IoT to bring enormous business opportunities as more devices are linked to the cloud. Miao cites Apple Watch an example as Apple sold out its initial shipment of 2.3M sets. With its basic health-and-fitness tracking features, Apple Watch has become a popular IoT device that cannot be underestimated in generating consumer demands. Furthermore, the importance of cloud computing and storage has become increasingly evident due to the amount of data generated by machine-to-machine communication. It is forecasted that the Cloud universe will contain 44 zettabytes of data by 2020 (one zettabyte equals 10²¹ bytes). 

TrendForce estimates that from 2015 onwards, around 25% of enterprises in Taiwan will adopt IoT technology, and the scale of Taiwan’s IoT industry will reach 900 billion TWD, eventually becoming the country’s next trillion-dollar business. Miao pointed out this industry’s growth potential the emerging markets in Asia is better than North America and Europe, which are initially considered to be more technologically advanced. Taiwan’s tech companies, in particular, has formed an integrated and complete supply chains for IoT hardware and software. This is the reason behind Google’s decision to create its second base for IoT research and development in Taiwan, outside of its American headquarter.