The Third Wave Of The Internet May Be the Biggest One Yet.
28 billion reasons to care…
The Internet of Things (IoT) is emerging as the third wave in the development of the Internet. The
1990s’ fixed Internet wave connected 1 billion users while the 2000s’ mobile wave connected
another 2 billion. The IoT has the potential to connect 10X as many (28 billion) “things” to the
Internet by 2020, ranging from bracelets to cars. …and the train is leaving the station.
Breakthroughs in the cost of sensors, processing power and bandwidth to connect devices are
enabling ubiquitous connections right now. Early simple products like fitness trackers and
thermostats are already gaining traction.Lots of room to participate. Personal lives, workplace productivity and consumption will all change. Plus there will be a string of new businesses, from those that will
expand the Internet “pipes”, to those that will analyze the reams of data, to those that will make
new things we have not even thought of yet. Benchmarking the future: early adopters We see five key early verticals of adoption (Wearables, Cars, Homes, Cities, and Industrials)
as test cases for what the IoT can achieve. Focus on: new products and sources of revenue and new ways to achieve cost efficiencies that can drive sustainable competitive advantages. Key to watch: privacy and security concerns – a likely source of friction on the path to adoption. Focus: Enablers, Platforms, & Industrials The IoT building blocks will come from those that can web-enable devices, provide common
platforms on which they can communicate, and develop new applications to capture new users.
Enablers : we see increased share for Wi-Fi, sensors and low-cost micro controllers. Platforms
: focus on software applications for managing communications between devices, middleware, storage, and data analytics. Industrials: Home automation is at the forefront of the early product opportunity, while factory floor optimization may lead the efficiency.
