Consumer Wireless Sensor IoT Markets
Will Approach $26 Billion in 2015

ON World’s recently published report set covers key wireless Internet of Things technologies including ZigBee, WiFi, Bluetooth Smart, Z-Wave, EnOcean for Smart Homes, Smart Buildings, Smart Energy, Smart Lighting, Smart Cities, Industrial Automation, Health & Fitness, Wearables, Personal Sensors and Others.

San Diego, CA Dec. 16, 2014— Consumers are doing their part in making the vision of ubiquitous sensing and control devices a reality, according to global technology research firm ON World.  This  holiday season will feature more wireless sensor network (WSN) products than ever before and annual growth rates for consumer wireless sensing markets will increase by 60% next year.

“Smart, tiny wireless sensing and control devices are appearing in nearly every area of our lives,” says Mareca Hatler, ON World’s research director.  “Large device shipments are driving component costs lower and cloud connected IP addressable sensing devices are lowering application costs for the consumer.”

The major wireless sensor network (WSN) markets for consumers today are smart lighting, smart homes, health and wellness as well as general purpose mobile sensing devices such as smart watches, smart glasses and jewelry.  Combined, these markets will have global annual revenues of $25.8 billion in 2015 including equipment and associated services.

Smart Lighting
The migration to LED lighting, new energy consumption regulations and inexpensive, low power wireless components have made smart lighting a compelling investment opportunity.  Wireless LED light bulbs and lamps is one of the fastest growing IoT markets.  ON World’s recent survey found that almost half of U.S. consumers are willing to pay $10 or more for a smart wireless LED light bulb.   According to ON World, residential retail sales for wireless smart lighting products increased by 100% in the first half of 2014 compared with the same period in 2013. 

Smart Homes
Cloud based platforms combined with low-cost wireless sensing and control devices have made smart home solutions affordable for mainstream consumers.  Internet-enabled wireless sensors have enabled a range of applications from smart appliances, thermostats, weather stations, security and safety sensors as well as lighting controls.  As demand grows for whole-home integrated systems, application convergence and standardization are growing trends.  This is illustrated by the recently announced ZigBee 3.0 that unifies ZigBee protocols; Thread, an IP-based wireless mesh protocol; and increasingly open IoT development platforms from Intel and ARM.  Home automation and control applications will make up over half of all WSN device shipments in 2018 that are set to surpass 930 million units at this time.

Health & Wellness
Smartphone-connected mobile sensing systems such as wearable vital sign monitors and activity trackers are transforming health and wellness.  Smart medical sensors connect the patient to the doctor, the clinic and to cloud based analytic engines which have created new IT opportunities. Seamless smartphone connectivity for wireless sensors through WiFi and Bluetooth Smart have launched several new mainstream consumer markets such as activity trackers and smart watches. 

But the multi-trillion dollar healthcare market has the largest total potential payoff.  Startups with wearable sensor innovations have raised more than $1 billion in venture funding and the majority of these are targeting healthcare.  Mobile sensing devices such as smart watches, smart glasses and health/fitness monitors will surpass half a billion unit shipments between 2013 and 2018.

The report synopses and fee executive summaries are available from: http://www.onworld.com/wsnset

About ON World:
ON World provides global business intelligence on smart technology markets. For the past decade, our research reports and information services have been used by Fortune 1000 companies, startups and investors worldwide.

Media contact:
Mary Purvis
e: purvis at onworld.com
ph: 858-259-2397

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