IoT connections 50bn by 2022, edge computing accelerates Juniper Research

IoT connections to grow 140% to hit 50bn by 2022, as edge computing accelerates ROI, according to Juniper Research

New data from Juniper Research has revealed that the total number of connected IoT (Internet of Things) sensors and devices is set to exceed 50 billion by 2022, up from an estimated 21 billion in 2018.

Juniper’s new research, The Internet of Things: Consumer, Industrial & Public Services 2018-2023, found that this growth, equivalent to 140% over the next 4 years, will be driven by edge computing services (the processing of data away from the cloud and closer to the source); increasing both deployment scalability and security.

IBM Tops IoT Vendors

As part of this new research, Juniper has ranked the industry’s leading vendors:

1. IBM
2. Microsoft
3. Intel
4. Bosch
5. Nokia

It noted that IBM’s breadth of services and investment in its Watson platform has paid off. However, Microsoft’s tremendous growth in the enterprise cloud space, its IoT Edge services and AI prowess highlight an increasingly compelling offer in the market.

Intelligence moves to the edge

The research found that the rise of edge computing would be critical in scaling deployments up, owing to reduced bandwidth requirements, faster application response times and improvements in data security.

Juniper predicted that a substantial proportion of the estimated 46 billion industrial and enterprise devices connected in 2023 will rely on edge computing. Therefore, addressing key challenges surrounding standardisation and deployment models will be crucial.