Is Internet of Things (IoT) the new holy grail?

IoT is critical to the UK’s search for the holy grail of higher productivity and competitiveness. The Centre for Economics and Business Research estimates that it could add £322bn to the UK economy by 2020, and create tens of thousands of extra jobs.

How big is the Internet of Things?

Big and getting bigger — there are already more connected things than people in the world. Analyst Gartner calculates that around 8.4 billion IoT devices were in use in 2017. The statistic has increased by 31 percent from 2016, and this will likely reach 20.4 billion by 2020. Total spending on IoT endpoints and services will reach almost $2tn in 2017, with two-thirds of those devices found in China, North America, and Western Europe, said Gartner.
Out of that 8.4 billion devices, more than half will be consumer products like smart TVs and smart speakers. The most-used enterprise IoT devices will be smart electric meters and commercial security cameras, according to Gartner.

Another analyst, IDC, puts worldwide spending on IoT at $772.5bn in 2018 — up nearly 15 percent on the $674bn spent in 2017. IDC predicts that total spending will hit $1tn in 2020 and $1.1tn in 2021.
According to IDC, hardware will be the most significant technology category in 2018. $239bn is set to go on modules and sensors, with some spending on infrastructure and security. Services will be the second largest technology category, followed by software and connectivity. (Source)