SINGAPORE, June 14, 2022 – According to IDC's latest Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide , the IoT market in Asia/Pacific* will continue to grow in 2022 by 9.1%, accelerating from 6.9% in 2021. Headwinds such as semiconductor shortages and supply chain disruption caused by geopolitical tensions have limited the growth in 2022 to single digits, and rising inflation may dampen growth. However, rising demand for remote operations, better network coverage, and the deployment of commercial 5G and testbeds are driving IoT adoption in the region. IDC expects Asia/Pacific* spending on Internet of Things(IoT) to reach $436 billion in 2026, with a CAGR of 11.8% percent for the period 2021-2026.

"The ongoing deployment and expansion of 5G will drive the growth of connectivity use cases that utilize massive narrowband IoT as well as wideband/broadband IoT such as 4K IP cameras. Low Earth Satellites including nanosatellites and next-generation Very High Throughput Satellites will enable a wide range of remote connectivity uses cases relating to Smart Cities, environmental and sustainability monitoring, transportation infrastructure, energy and resources, and utilities," says Bill Rojas, Research Director for IDC Asia/Pacific.

Discrete and Process manufacturing will continue to be the top industries investing in IoT solutions in 2022 and in forecasted years, followed by State/Local Government and Professional Services. The ability to improve the product and service quality, efficiency, and customer experience are the primary motivations for these businesses to invest in IoT. Industries that will experience the fastest growth in 2022 are Retail and Healthcare, with a growth of 11.8 % and 11%, respectively. Changes caused by the pandemic increased digitization in retail processes, and continued the momentum of remote or contactless engagement are driving this growth.

IoT use cases that see the highest spending in 2022 are Manufacturing Operations, Production Asset Management, Omni-Channel Operations, Public Safety and Emergency Response and Smart Grids which follows similar growth patterns as the host industries. Together these use-cases will make more than one-third of the overall IoT spending in the region. Use-case related to healthcare - bedside telemetry will continue to be one of the fastest-growing use-cases in 2022, along with Maintenance & Field Service and Airport Facility Automation.

“Enterprises in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan are actively pursuing digital transformation of business processes to understand better current difficulties and productivity gaps across the value chain. The use of IoT will facilitate better collaboration within the organization and the ecosystem” says Sharad Kotagi, Market Analyst at IDC IT Spending Guides, Customer Insights & Analysis.

From a pure spending perspective, in 2022, the largest portion of spending is expected to remain in the services category, representing roughly 40% of the overall IoT spending in the region. Organizations are increasingly establishing cross-functional IoT centers of excellence, emphasizing IT/OT convergence, which increases their reliance on system integrators and other outsourcing partners. The hardware market for IoT will be the second-largest technology group in 2022, primarily driven by purchases of modules and sensors. Software will be the fastest growing technology category with a five-year CAGR of 13.3% with a focus on application and analytics software purchases. Connectivity spending will grow at 7.2% CAGR during the forecast period and will account for 7.6% of the total spend in 2026.

China (PRC) continues to hold the lion's share, with more than 60% in 2022, followed by South Korea and India. Countries with the fastest IoT spending in 2022 are Singapore and Hong Kong. Government-led IoT initiatives and policies and the emergence of Smart factories and Industry 4.0 have accelerated the IoT adoption across Asia Pacific* countries.

The Worldwide Internet of Things Spending Guide forecasts IoT spending for 9 regions and 53 countries at 19 technology categories and 81 named use cases across 19 industries. Starting with this release of IDC Worldwide IoT Spending Guide, the IoT services forecast will be split into Industrial Implementation, Ongoing IT Services (IT Outsourcing & Support), Other Ongoing Services, Project Oriented and Strategy and System Design at the maximum level of detail, across regions, industries, and use cases. This provides tech buyers and providers with an effective new tool to understand how the plethora of IoT use cases call for multiple connectivity types, driven by different expectations in terms of latency, bandwidth, and data frequency.

*Asia/Pacific excluding Japan

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About IDC Spending Guides

IDC's Spending Guides provide a granular view of key technology markets from a regional, vertical industry, use case, buyer, and technology perspective. The spending guides are delivered via pivot table format or custom query tool, allowing the user to easily extract meaningful information about each market by viewing data trends and relationships.

For more information about IDC's Spending Guides, please contact Vinay Gupta at vgupta@idc.com

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDCAP and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights.

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