At the beginning of 2021, IoT Analytics assessed the major global developments of the Internet of Things in 2020. This article focuses on IoT Analytics' observations on the progress of the Internet of Things and a review of the top ten IoT events in 2020. In 2020, the IoT industry has been largely affected by the Covid-19 global pandemic.
Part I: Impact of Covid-19 on IoT 2020
Affected by the epidemic, public interest in the Internet of Things dropped by 15%
According to IoT Analytics, the frequency of people searching for "Internet of Things" topics through Google has dropped sharply in 2020. Since the pandemic in March 2020, the proportion of this decline has reached 15%; since then, the search volume for the topic of "Internet of Things" has remained relatively stable and at a low level, and there is no sign of recovery. The Internet of Things obviously does not play an important role in the public like other topics. For example, within the same time frame, the public’s search interest in games has soared by about 65%, interest in "work from home" has increased by 104%, Interest in unemployment benefits has soared by 250%. IoT Analytics' analysis of more than 3,000 earnings calls shows that in the second quarter of 2020, the usage of the term "IoT" showed a similar downward trend. However, the discussion about the Internet of Things, especially the "Industrial Internet of Things" restarted in the third quarter.
Despite the pandemic, the 2020 IoT market remains strong
Despite the continuous Covid-19 epidemic and the global GDP decline of 5% in 2020, according to the analysis of IoT Analytics, the IoT market is still growing in 2020 (regardless of the scale of expenditure or the total number of connected devices). Although a small number of IoT projects have been stopped or postponed due to various reasons (such as the inability to build infrastructure during the lockdown), most of the IoT projects will continue in 2020.
In fact, 2020 is an inflection point for smart devices-the number of active IoT connections (for example: connected cars, smart home devices, connected industrial equipment), etc., surpasses the number of non-IoT connections for the first time in history (For example: smartphones, laptops and desktops). According to IoT Analytics estimates, there are currently 21.7 billion active connected devices worldwide, of which 54% (11.7 billion) are connected to IoT devices. By 2025, it is estimated that there will be more than 30 billion IoT connections, that is, almost everyone on the planet has 4 IoT devices.
More than a dozen IoT themes accelerate development with the epidemic
The Internet of Things plays a vital role in responding to the epidemic. Some IoT-centric use cases have played (and will continue to play) an important role in helping the world respond to the epidemic. The most notable ones include workplace, hospital and other IoT-based contact tracking (for example: Concept Reply's tracking and location system), and product tracking and verification in the entire vaccine supply chain (for example: Controlant).
In addition to supporting IoT use cases for the "new normal" in 2020, a number of additional themes have emerged, many of which have more lasting structural effects. IoT Analytics first published these observations in the "Covid-19 Impact on the Internet of Things" analysis in April 2020.
In October 2020, an IoT Analytics survey of 60 senior IT decision makers in manufacturing, transportation, and industrial companies confirmed that almost all of the 25 trends are believed to have a more lasting impact on their organizations. The vast majority (92%) of the respondents believe that in the post-Covid era, "company-wide digitization" will be more important (38% of respondents said it will be "very very important"); perform "remote asset access The ability to "" ranked second (90% of companies said it would be more important); having more "business process automation" ranked third (88% of companies said it would be more important).
Cautiously optimistic about the outlook for 2021
Entering 2021, the overall situation of IoT technology looks very optimistic. It is generally believed that any negative impact on business due to Covid-19 will gradually disappear in 2021, and the new "digital transformation wave" will promote the development of the IoT market. One of the themes that enterprises will accelerate their development is "business models supported by new technologies", many of which will be realized by interconnected IoT products. Another major topic that enterprises pay attention to is "artificial intelligence." Among the top ten IoT developments in 2020 selected by IoT Analytics, 3 are all around the topic of artificial intelligence.
Part II: Top Ten Developments of IoT 2020
Throughout 2020, IoT Analytics has monitored major developments surrounding the global IoT technology:
The biggest new power of the Internet of Things: Xiaomi
In January 2020, Xiaomi, an electronics manufacturer from China, announced plans to invest at least US$7.2 billion in 5G and artificial intelligence (AIoT) in the next five years. The new push includes major investments in a series of consumer and enterprise IoT devices such as smart TVs, drones, electric scooters, air purifiers, routers, and security cameras.
The biggest contribution of the Internet of Things in the fight against Covid-19: saving lives
At the beginning of 2020, no one in the IoT industry can foresee that IoT technology will play an important role in saving lives throughout the year. A widely cited study conducted by Imperial College London in June 2020 estimated that during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing saved 3 million lives in Europe alone. Although most of these saved lives can be attributed to people just staying at home, wearing masks and avoiding contact, the Internet of Things technology undoubtedly prevented further spread in some cases.
Many IoT vendors are racing to launch social distancing tools (including Bosch.IO's workplace isolation and contact tracking solutions, Software AG and Dell's Smart Social Distancing solutions, or Concept Reply's tracking and location systems, etc.).
The Goebecke bakery in Leipzig, Germany is just one of many companies using this solution. According to the boss of the company, the audio reminders in the workplace and the ability to analyze employee data have made employees more cautious and more aware. These employees subsequently changed their distances.
Recently, the focus of the Internet of Things for Covid-19 has shifted to vaccine supply chain monitoring to ensure the safe delivery of vaccines without product loss, tampering or deterioration. For example, Pfizer/Biontech chose Controlant, an Icelandic startup, to monitor the delivery of its Covid-19 vaccine.
The fastest accelerated IoT vertical: healthcare
Over the years, due to the high degree of regulation in the industry and the lack of support and urgency for medical digitalization, the implementation of IoT projects in the medical environment has proved to be very troublesome.
Now, more and more evidence shows that Covid-19 has caused a digital explosion in the healthcare sector, especially in hospitals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a number of temporary policies in May 2020 to support digital tools in 2020. Germany first allowed doctors to prescribe digital health apps for specific diseases in October 2020 (for example, an app that helps cure anxiety).
One of the applications that has surged during the pandemic is "telemedicine", where doctors treat patients through video conferencing. Doctors report that telemedicine is often seen as just the first step towards digital diagnosis, which relies on IoT devices to diagnose patients from a distance. Several hospitals will start trials in 2020. In December 2020, a video of a London surgeon using 5G technology to perform remote surgery on bananas went viral on the Internet.
The biggest IoT financing in 2020: Samsara
Samsara succeeded again. Samsara is already at the top of IoT Analytics' largest IoT financing list in 2019 ($300 million, Series F). In May 2020, during the first Covid-19 blockade, the company raised another 400 million U.S. dollars to further expand its industrial IoT business. The valuation of the company in this round of financing is $5.4 billion, a 14% drop from the valuation at the time of the investment in 2019. When CEO Sanjit Biswas announced this round of financing, he also announced layoffs of 300 people (18% of the workforce) due to the impact of Covid-19 on the key vertical transportation system.
Top notable investments in 2020 (related to the Internet of Things) include:
The most important technical standardization: 5G Release 16
In July 2020, the 3GPP standards body reached an important milestone: the release of version 16, which is the second set of specifications for 5G technology and a key step for 5G IoT. The new set of specifications that make up version 16 includes major improvements to "ultra-reliable, low-latency communications" (eURLLC), positioning functions, and support for TSN (time sensitive networking), all of which are useful for various IoT use cases. Internet of Things connections are very important, especially for high-end applications, such as applications in the industrial Internet of Things. In addition, version 16 can also deploy and manage NB-IoT and LTE-M technologies on the new 5G core network, so that 5G networks can manage large-scale and low-complexity IoT through these technologies. Currently, there are about 200 million IoT connections using NB-IoT / LTE-M products worldwide. IoT Analytics predicts that 5G IoT for high-end applications will emerge in 2022 and beyond.
The most famous new buzzword: AIoT
For many years, people have believed that the true value of the Internet of Things can be unlocked by AI/ML algorithms applied to the data flow of the Internet of Things. Therefore, in hindsight, it is not surprising that "AI + IoT = AIoT" will appear in 2020 and become a new buzzword. In December 2020, Google's search volume for this topic was about 70% more than 12 months ago. Interestingly, the term seems to have originated in China (rather than the origin of the word "IoT" in the United States). Huawei and Xiaomi, as well as Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC (TSMC), have been advocating the concept of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, that is, the integration of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.
In 2020, many "non-Chinese" companies use this term in their branding efforts. American industrial software provider Aspen Technology announced its new Industry 4.0 AIoT Hub in August 2020, and Swiss cyber security company Wisekey launched a new digital strategy centered on AIoT in September 2020. Other examples of companies that promote the term in 2020 include Singapore-based ASM Pacific Technology and US-based analytics software provider SAS.
The largest IoT-related acquisition: Nvidia-ARM
On September 13, 2020, Nvidia announced its intention to acquire ARM. This is the largest semiconductor transaction to date with a valuation of US$40 billion. In addition to being the largest semiconductor transaction, this acquisition is expected to bring new technological innovations to AI & Edge IoT. The main business sector acquired by NVIDIA is ARM's processor IP, which also has important IoT components, especially edge computing. ARM's IoT products & services group (ARM's Pelion IoT platform, MbedOS, SoC solutions/security, KigenSIM solutions) will not participate in this transaction. If this transaction is approved by the regulatory authorities, there may be such a situation: Chinese companies will never get ARM's technology. This may further create an imbalance in the US-China trade relationship, thereby allowing the US to dominate the semiconductor intellectual property market.
Important acquisitions in 2020 (related to the Internet of Things) include:
The most ambitious new IoT connection technology: Amazon Sidewalk
In November 2020, Amazon notified customers of Amazon Echo devices and Ring security cameras that Amazon Sidewalk will be pushed to their devices soon. Sidewalk is an ambitious project that aims to create a neighborhood shared network that allows IoT devices such as pets or asset trackers to connect to the Internet even when the home Wi-Fi network is interrupted or out of range. This is a technology that connects different Wi-Fi networks into a low-bandwidth network for different users' IoT devices.
In September 2020, Semtech, the chip company behind the LoRa low-power standard, announced that it has established a partnership with Amazon to build a network; a few months later, in December, it is reported that the LoRa Alliance is in talks and will join and support Sidewalk. , Using the open LoRaWAN standard, which is supported by the alliance and its more than 500 member companies.
The most important government initiative: U.S. Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act
In December 2020, the "Internet of Things Network Security Improvement Act" was finally signed into American law. IoT Analytics has discussed the importance of this law in the 2017 IoT Annual Review article. Among them, the law requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to update IoT security standards and guidelines regularly (at least once every 5 years). Experts hope that the law will prompt manufacturers to consider some network security features when designing IoT devices (for example: use secure coding practices, provide adequate certification, and regularly patch devices).
The largest IoT 2020 IPO: C3.ai
On December 9, 2020, C3.ai was listed (traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the stock code is "AI"). C3 is a real success story of the Internet of Things. The company was founded in 2009 by American billionaire Tom Siebel, who is famous for his founding of Siebel Systems, which was sold to Oracle in January 2006. C3.ai was originally called C3 Energy, focusing on the digitization of power grids, electricity meters and utilities. The company later (2016) updated its brand to C3IoT and expanded its focus beyond energy as a horizontal IoT platform. In recent years, the company has emphasized general analysis and artificial intelligence capabilities, which is why the company has once again rebranded as C3.ai. Today's C3.ai claims that it can read data from 57 million sensors, but Siebel made it clear that the focus is on AI (including non-IoT applications). Since its listing in December 2020, the stock price has soared by more than 40% from the opening price, with a valuation of nearly US$14 billion (as of January 8, 2021). (Text / Editorial Department of Cloud Technology Times)
[Original link: https://iot-analytics.com/iot-2020-in-review/]