Iot Business

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Thematic Research: Technology
Internet of Things
11 May 2021 GDTMT-TR-S306
Internet of Things| 11 May 2021
| Contents
Executive summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 4
Players .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Technology briefing ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

The five big IoT market segments .................................................................................................................................... 6
The key enabling technologies for IoT ............................................................................................................................. 9
The four stages of IoT development............................................................................................................................... 11
Trends ........................................................................................................................................................................ 12
Technology trends .......................................................................................................................................................... 13
Macroeconomic trends .................................................................................................................................................. 17
Regulatory trends .......................................................................................................................................................... 19
Industry analysis ......................................................................................................................................................... 20

Business benefits of IoT .................................................................................................................................................. 21
Evolving IoT business models ......................................................................................................................................... 22
The three prerequisites for pervasive IoT ....................................................................................................................... 23
The most talked-about areas of IoT ............................................................................................................................... 28
Patent trends ................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Market size and growth forecasts ................................................................................................................................. 30
Mergers and acquisitions ............................................................................................................................................... 35
Timeline.......................................................................................................................................................................... 37
Value chain ................................................................................................................................................................. 38

Device layer .................................................................................................................................................................... 40
Connectivity layer........................................................................................................................................................... 42
Data layer ...................................................................................................................................................................... 45
App layer ........................................................................................................................................................................ 48
Services layer ................................................................................................................................................................. 50
Companies .................................................................................................................................................................. 53
Public companies ........................................................................................................................................................... 53
Private companies.......................................................................................................................................................... 57
Sector scorecards........................................................................................................................................................ 58
Consumer electronics sector scorecard .......................................................................................................................... 58
Semiconductor sector scorecard .................................................................................................................................... 62
WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 2

Industrial automation sector scorecard ......................................................................................................................... 66

Application software sector scorecard ........................................................................................................................... 70
Glossary ...................................................................................................................................................................... 74
Further reading........................................................................................................................................................... 78
| Our thematic research methodology ....................................................................................................................... 79
| About GlobalData .................................................................................................................................................... 81
| Contact Us ............................................................................................................................................................... 82

Executive summary
The Internet of Things, or IoT, describes the use of connected sensors and actuators Inside
to control and monitor the environment, the things that move within it, and the ▪ Players
people that act within it. Use cases include the automated home, the connected car,
▪ Technology briefing
wearable technology, the automated home, smart cities, and predictive
▪ Trends
maintenance for industrial machinery.
▪ Industry analysis
The IoT market will surpass the $1 trillion mark by 2024 ▪ Value chain
We forecast the global IoT market to reach $1.1 trillion in revenue by 2024. ▪ Companies
Enterprise IoT will account for 73% of market revenue by 2024, down from 76% in
▪ Sector scorecards
2020, while the consumer segment will make up 27% in 2024, up from 24% in 2020,
▪ Glossary
with significant growth coming from wearables. In a post-COVID-19 world, we
expect a new wave of digital transformation to fuel higher growth across all IoT ▪ Further reading
markets. ▪ Thematic methodology
________________________________
Pervasive IoT is still some years away
For IoT technology to become truly pervasive, two things need to happen: latency
Related reports
levels need to drop to allow real-time decision making, and IoT deployments need
to operate more autonomously. Advances in data center technology are already ▪ Smart Clothing
pushing more intelligence to the edge of data networks, reducing latency, while ▪ Hearables
Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) technology is gradually reducing the role of ▪ Connected Car
human decision-making in many IoT ecosystems. ▪ Smart Glasses
Pervasive IoT will become closer to reality as AIoT and edge computing – both ▪ Smartwatches
nascent technologies – mature, perhaps in a decade or so for markets such as ▪ Smart Cities
autonomous trucks. ▪ Wearable Tech
▪ Automated Home
Fragmented security standards stand in the way
There are no globally accepted standards for IoT security. Fears around data ▪ Industrial Internet
breaches linger because the consequences of weak IoT security can be severe. Weak ▪ Smart Speakers
security around smart electricity meters can compromise critical national ▪ Ambient Commerce
infrastructure, while inadequate IoT security in connected cars can lead to fatal ________________________________
accidents.
Leaders
The IoT landscape encompasses a rich and complex ecosystem of technologies and
technology companies. This ranges from the manufacturers of the sensors and
Report type
microchips that go inside the connected devices to the telecom operators and ▪ Single theme
wireless radio manufacturers that connect these devices to the internet and the ▪ Multi-theme
services organizations that help clients stitch everything together. ▪ Sector Scorecard
Our IoT value chain is segmented into five layers. Below we list some of the leading
players in each of these layers.
▪ Device layer: AMD, Intel, Arm (Softbank), Apple, Amazon, Google,

STMicroelectronics, TSMC, and Xiaomi.
▪ Connectivity layer: Arista Networks, Broadcom, Cisco, Ciena, Dell Technologies,
Ericsson, HPE, Huawei, IBM, and Juniper Networks.
▪ Data layer: Cloudera, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, SAS, Snowflake,
Splunk, and TIBCO.
▪ App layer: Apple, Alibaba, Amazon, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Tencent.
▪ Services layer: Accenture, Arup, Atos, Cognizant, Deloitte, Tesla, and TCS.

Players
We classify the Internet of Things (IoT) into five distinct markets: automated home, connected car, wearable tech, smart
cities, and the Industrial Internet.
Each of these markets has a common value chain, which we split into five layers: the device layer, the connectivity layer,
the data layer, the app layer, and the services layer.
The table below highlights some of the big tech players within the IoT theme, classified by value chain segment.
Who are the leading players in the IoT theme, and where do they sit in the value chain?
Internet of Things Internet of Things Leaders Challengers

markets value chain
Amazon Intel AAC Technologies Mobvoi

AMD Microchip Ambarella Qorvo
Analog Devices NXP AMS Renesas
Automated Apple Qualcomm Baidu Skyworks
Device layer
home Arm (Softbank) Samsung Electronics Garmin Sonos
Broadcom Sony Goertek Sunny Optical
Google STMicroelectronics GoPro Toshiba
Hikvision Texas Instruments HTC Tsinghua Unigroup
Honeywell TSMC LG Electronics Vuzix
Huawei Xiaomi MediaTek Xilinx
Arista Networks IBM Accton KDDI

Connected AT&T Juniper Networks BT Group KT
car Broadcom Lumen Technologies China Mobile Lenovo
Connectivity Ciena NTT China Telecom Nokia
layer Cisco Orange China Unicom Nutanix
Dell Technologies SingTel Citrix Systems Rakuten
Deutsche Telekom SK Telekom Comcast Tata Comms
Ericsson Telefónica Eurotech Telstra
HPE Verizon Extreme Networks Ubiquiti
Huawei Vodafone Inspur ZTE
Wearable
technology Alteryx Qlik Attivio MapR (HPE)
Cloudera RapidMiner BMC Software MarkLogic
Dataiku Salesforce Darktrace McAfee
IBM SAP Data Virtuality NetApp
Data layer
Infor SAS Dataiku Okta
Informatica Snowflake DataStax OpenText
Microsoft Splunk Domo Palantir
Oracle TIBCO Information BuildersProgress Software
Smart
cities Alibaba IBM Bosch PTC
Amazon Microsoft Dassault Systèmes Rockwell Automation
App layer Apple Oracle GE Schneider Electric
Google Tencent Honeywell Siemens
Huawei Tesla Mobvoi Xiaomi
Accenture McKinsey Alarm.com Genpact

Arup Schneider Electric Atkins Hitachi
Industrial Atos Siemens Black & Veatch Lytx
Services layer
Internet BMW TCS Capgemini Mott McDonald
Cognizant Tesla Control4 PwC
Dassault Systèmes Toyota DXC Technologies Surbana Jurong
Deloitte VW Floow Wipro
Source: GlobalData

Technology briefing
The Internet of Things, or IoT, is an umbrella term referring to the ability of everyday physical objects (such as fridges,
watches, or cars) to connect with other devices over the internet, enabling them to send and receive data. By collecting
and analyzing the data they transmit, consumers and businesses will be able to monitor, maintain and upgrade these
“things” much more efficiently. In the process, many aspects of our lives, such as switching the lights on or predicting
when the car needs its next service, will be automated, saving time, energy, and money.
The five big IoT market segments

We see five major markets for IoT, each defined by its own characteristics. Within the consumer IoT segment, as shown
in the chart below, there is the automated home, the connected car, and wearable technology. Within the enterprise
IoT segment, the key markets are smart cities and the Industrial Internet.
Below we set out our full IoT market map.
We see five major markets for IoT, each defined by its own characteristics
They include the automated home, the connected car, wearable tech, smart cities, and the Industrial Internet.
IoT market
Consumer IoT Enterprise IoT
Wearable Industrial
Automated home Connected car Smart cities
technology Internet
In-vehicle Advanced
Smart speakers Smartwatches Smart buildings
infotainment automation
Consumer
Smart appliances Fitness trackers Smart metering Asset tracking
telematics
Condition
Smart security Smart clothing Smart signage
monitoring
Smart lighting Smart city People & animal

Hearables
control platforms tracking
Smart Smart payments

Smart glasses Telematics
thermostats systems
VR headsets Environmental
monitoring
AR headsets
Source: GlobalData

Automated home
The automated home refers to the automation and control of household appliances via connection to the internet.
Examples of automated home devices include smart speakers, smart thermostats, smart lighting, smart security, and
smart appliances.
The Google Nest Learning Thermostat is one such product. It allows the user to change the temperature of their home
from anywhere. It can also automatically adjust the heating controls to suit the householder's lifestyle by learning from
the householder's past adjustments. The auto-away function detects when the house is empty and automatically reduces
the temperature, turning the heat back up to the user's preferred level upon his return.
See Automated Home.
Connected car
A connected car is a vehicle equipped with intelligent systems and services connected to the internet.
Today, many cars are being designed with in-car entertainment and information systems that include music, navigation,
social media, apps, and other services. Two primary examples of leading infotainment systems are Apple CarPlay (a
system for linking iOS devices to a vehicle's dashboard) and Android Auto.
The connected car crosses a broad array of intersecting technological developments such as home integration, mobility
management, vehicle management, entertainment, well-being, safety, and autonomous driving. The connected car is
global in scope, with an array of pilots and studies deployed worldwide, expecting to roll out several connectivity features
across the next five years, which will shape a further thirty years of development.
See Connected Car and Autonomous Vehicles.
Wearable technology
Wearable technology refers to electronic devices that can be worn on the body, either as an accessory (like a watch or
a pair of glasses) or as part of the material used in clothing (such as sportswear that measures biometrics).
Wearables have become a more prominent consumer IoT category with the emergence of devices that incorporate
voice-activated virtual assistants such as Apple's Siri, including fitness bands and smartwatches. More recently, gesture
control technology (such as Google's Soli radar chip) is being embedded into such devices.
Within the healthcare sector the growth of the medical IoT is driving the market for wearables which house sensors to
detect heart rate, blood pressure, and other vital signs. By sending this data to the cloud for real-time analysis, wearable
medical devices can help with predictive diagnosis. For instance, advising a patient to go to the hospital based on an
irregular heartbeat.
See Wearable Technology, Hearables, Smartwatches, Smart Glasses, and Smart Clothing.
Smart cities
Smart cities are urban areas that use different types of electronic data collection sensors to supply information which is
used to manage assets and resources efficiently. Within smart cities, we include smart buildings, smart metering, smart
signage, and smart payment systems operating on a smart city platform.
Effective analysis of smart city data offers the prospect of automated infrastructure, where a city can use its data to
benefit its people. IoT technology combined with artificial intelligence (AI) can help find more efficient ways of allocating
energy, improve the efficiency of water distribution, sewage systems, and utilities, and predict maintenance
requirements.
Such technologies can also help reduce CO2 emissions by intelligently managing the flow of people within city
transportation systems. 5G networks will play a critical role in enabling smart cities.

Smart city platforms offer a range of solutions that can support smart building controls, transportation pricing and
payments, crime response, or environmental monitoring.
See Smart Cities.
Industrial Internet
The Industrial Internet refers to the use of connected sensors and actuators to control and monitor the industrial
machinery environment, to help detect faults early and predict maintenance requirements.
Industrial machines are now being built with thousands of embedded sensors, sending data to control rooms for analysis.
Sensor data allow manufacturers to automate parts of the maintenance process and enable logistics teams to track
parcels in a supply chain or manage a fleet of vehicles. Similarly, they allow doctors to monitor the health of their patients
without having to see them.
The Industrial Internet has the potential to provide many benefits for different kinds to businesses. While operational
efficiency and cost optimization remain the key goals of deployments today, many companies are also working on using
product performance and usage statistics to design new product features or entirely new products altogether.
See Industrial Internet and Digital Twins.

The key enabling technologies for IoT

Four key technologies are enabling today’s IoT ecosystems: AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and 5G. The primary
attributes of each technology are described below.
There are four key enabling technologies for IoT

They include AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and 5G
AI
Makes IoT intelligent by helping with
real-time data analysis and decision-
making
5G Internet Cloud computing

Makes IoT faster by providing higher of Makes IoT flexible by providing on-
bandwidth, capacity, and lower latency demand access to computing
services resources
Things
Cybersecurity
Makes IoT secure by defending
devices, networks, applications, and
data from digital attacks
Source: GlobalData
AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to software-based systems that use data inputs to make decisions independently.
Machine learning (ML), one of the sub-segments of AI, gives machines (embedded with sensors and computing chips)
the ability to learn and improve from data and is considered one of IoT's primary enablers.
Sensors on these connected IoT devices provide real-time data feeds to ML algorithms. These ML algorithms digest the
data, meaningfully interpret it, analyze it, and send instructions back to the devices in a virtuous circle of continual
improvement. The more data that is collected, the better the ML algorithms can interact with the connected device,
whether for routine maintenance (example: detection of faulty parts), predictive analytics (example: tell a driver he is
about to enter a congested traffic zone) or smart robotics (example: tell a robot how to move, based on cloud-based
control centers analyzing data from onboard computer vision sensors).
See Artificial Intelligence.
Cloud computing
Cloud computing encompasses the provision of IT infrastructure, operating software, middleware, and applications
hosted within a data center and accessed by the end user via the internet. Cloud is considered a foundational technology
for an IoT ecosystem. At the connectivity layer, it provides the infrastructure that delivers flexible, on-demand access to

computing resources. It facilitates the process of storing, managing, and analyzing data. It has also enabled the
disaggregation of physical technology hardware from end-users by allowing the virtualization and sharing of computing
resources such as central processing units (CPUs), storage, networking, and software. In conjunction with cloud, edge
computing helps shift compute, storage, data management, and analytics software to the edge of a network. There is
no fixed definition of the physical location of the edge, but the basic concept is to move computational capabilities closer
to the IoT device generating the data. The edge can range from on-device computing to a local enterprise or on-premises
data center or server.
See Cloud Computing.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is the practice of defending devices, networks, applications, and data from digital attacks. These attacks
are usually aimed at accessing, changing, or destroying sensitive information, extorting money from users, or
interrupting normal business processes. The cybersecurity approach has multiple layers and can be divided into a few
common categories like cloud security, network security, application security, information security, operational security,
and disaster recovery and business continuity.
Implementing effective cybersecurity measures is particularly challenging today because there are more connected
devices than people, and attackers are becoming more innovative. In an IoT environment, the facilitation of data
exchange between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) offers greater business benefits but
introduces significant risk. Many IoT-related networks handle critical national infrastructure, such as power grids, and
the impact of a breach resulting from immature IoT technology would be significant.
See Cybersecurity.
5G
5G refers to the fifth generation of global mobile wireless standards. It is based on the OFDM (orthogonal frequency-
division multiplexing) method, modulating a digital signal across several different channels to reduce interference. 5G
uses a 5G New Radio (NR) air interface alongside OFDM principles. It also uses a wider range of spectrum bands than
previous generations of mobile wireless standards, including millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies (generally defined
as spectrum bands over 24 GHz), which allow much higher bandwidth, capacity, and lower latency services.
5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability,
massive network capacity, and increased availability needed for widespread IoT adoption.
See 5G.

The four stages of IoT development

We see four key stages in the development of the IoT market. Each stage is categorized by the level of intelligence of
connected things. Today, we estimate we are in stage three and slowly marching towards stage four. By 2025, we might
enter stage four.
There are four stages of IoT development

The first stage involves passive things; the final stage has fully autonomous things
Stage:4
Autonomous
things Autonomous things can make decisions
based on built-in rules or ML
algorithms. This is the world of AI.
Stage:3 Examples include driverless cars or
factories staffed by robots.
Aware things
Aware things can process data and actively
respond to events. Examples include a
garage door automatically being unlocked
when the owner's car approaches or lights
Stage:2 coming on when someone enters a room.
Active things
Active things can exchange sensor data and
intelligence with other devices. For example, a
mobile payment system like Apple Pay can enable
any device with Apple Pay software to make a
Stage:1 transaction when it is placed near an NFC reader.
Passive things
Passive things can be identified by
other devices but do not do much else.
Examples include RFID tracking tags on
books, spare parts, or goods in transit.
Source: GlobalData

Trends
The main trends shaping the IoT theme over the next 12 to 24 months are shown below. We classify these trends into
three categories: technology trends, macroeconomic trends, and regulatory trends.
Top IoT trends 2021

The wheel below highlights the key technology, macro, and regulatory trends impacting IoT adoption
Source: GlobalData
On the following pages, we explain these trends in more detail.

Technology trends
The table below highlights the key technology trends impacting the IoT theme.
Trend What's happening?

Lack of global IoT We are unlikely to see pervasive IoT without the establishment of a global IoT security
security standards standard. The increase in the number of connected devices has significantly increased
potential points for cyberattacks and created a massive security gap. Current IoT ecosystems
lack adequate security regulations to address this gap.
IoT security encompasses a range of threat vectors that can be device-based, app-based,
network-based, or data-based.
For IoT technology, the primary focus is endpoint security, which refers to the protection of
connected devices, from a refrigerator to a manufacturing tool. Attacks on industrial
equipment and critical national infrastructure can be a significant threat. The big challenge
here is that most devices have weak or no security controls.
The IoT security market is slowly evolving in two areas. First, IoT-related regulations, such as
the US IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act, which focuses on securing federal IoT
ecosystems, are emerging. Second, more manufacturers are designing IoT devices with
prebuilt security applications and providing their users with the necessary software updates
to patch security breaches.
However, this is not enough. For pervasive IoT to become a reality, the world needs a unified,
global IoT security standard.
Intel, IBM, AT&T, Verizon, Qualcomm, and Palo Alto Networks are a few of the leaders in this
field.
See Cybersecurity
Lack of global IoT Currently, there are a plethora of IoT communication protocols (the technologies used to
communication connect IoT devices to the internet) used across the world. For IoT to be pervasive, these
standards protocols need to be interoperable and standardized. There are currently no global IoT
communication standards, making large-scale IoT deployment more complex than it needs
to be.
The type of communication protocol used typically depends on the use case. For example,
for long-range communication on lower power consumption, Low Power Wide Area Network
(LPWAN) wireless technologies like NB-IoT, LTE-M, LoRa, and Sigfox are the preferred
standards. By allowing only small amounts of data to be transmitted at a time (often just a
few kilobits), LPWAN supports large-scale IoT networks sprawling over vast industrial spaces.
For use cases that require short-range communication, Bluetooth and Zigbee are typically
the preferred options. These standards are appropriate, for instance, for the automated
home.
Wi-Fi is ubiquitous in both enterprise and home environments where power consumption is
not a limiting factor. For most of the low latency use cases, cellular connectivity networks
like 4G and 5G are preferred due to their higher data transmission speeds. 5G transmission
speed may be as high as 10 Gbps (gigabits per second).
The extensive array of communication protocols can lead to problems with interoperability
between and within IoT ecosystems.
For pervasive IoT to become a reality, the world needs a unified, global IoT communication
standard.
Qualcomm and Arm are amongst the leaders in this field.


5G With speeds up to 100 times faster than a 4G LTE connection, 5G can be a game-changer for
IoT. 2021 will be a year of catch-up as COVID-19 disrupted 5G rollouts in 2020.
IoT use cases that require low latency, such as connected cars, predictive maintenance, and
wearable tech in healthcare, will benefit the most from 5G.
5G's ultra-reliable, low-latency communication (URLLC) capacity and support for TSN (Time-
Sensitive Networking) will be very important for IoT adoption. GlobalData estimates that
there were more than 400 million active 5G subscriptions globally by the end of 2020, and
this number will rise to more than 3 billion by 2025. It will be 2022 before 5G makes a real
difference to the IoT market, specifically the Industrial Internet.
Most IoT devices still manage to perform adequately with lower bandwidth connectivity (like
4G, 3G, and Wi-Fi). Service providers may struggle to manage multiple networking spectrums
without a reliable and unified regulatory ecosystem.
The leading 5G equipment makers include Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, and ZTE.
See 5G
Healthtech The healthcare sector has long resisted the digital revolution, lagging far behind other
industries, but COVID-19 has led to the rapid adoption of medical IoT technologies – such as
remote patient monitoring and medical robots – opening up vast digitalization opportunities
for IoT solution providers.
A leading player in remote patient monitoring, particularly for elderly patients, is Livongo
Health (now part of Teladoc Health), which provides remote IoT monitoring solutions for
chronic diseases.
During the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, medical robots have disinfected hospitals and
delivered medicine to patients.
See MedTech
Artificial Intelligence Within any IoT ecosystem, data is transferred between connected devices and analyzed by
of Things (AIoT) humans. Some of the data flows are human-to-machine, and others are machine-to-machine
(M2M). When analyzed in aggregate, these data reveal patterns and trends. Often AI
technologies are used to interpret and react to these data flows in real-time.
The amalgamation of these two technologies – AI and IoT – has given rise to the concept of
AIoT.
AIoT involves embedding AI technology into IoT components. Combining data collected by
connected sensors and actuators with AI allows for reduced latency, increased privacy, and
real-time intelligence at the edge. It also means that less data needs to be sent to, and stored
on, cloud servers.
AIoT smart security cameras have gained much attention. They support several tasks, from
identifying who is at the door to providing office surveillance and deterring shoplifters. In
January 2020, Apple acquired Xnor.ai, which offered AI-enabled image recognition tools
capable of functioning on low-power devices, to bolster its offering at the edge.
See Artificial Intelligence


Intelligent edge As the IoT grows, sensors will pop up everywhere, which will result in a huge increase in the
computing amount of data collected. But the processing power on most IoT devices is limited (to reduce
cost and prolong battery life), so the data processing takes place in the cloud, in data centers
that are typically far away from where the IoT devices that generate the sensor data.
As IoT ecosystems become more complex and ubiquitous, some of the data analytics
functions are shifting to the edge of the network, closer to the source of data generation, to
reduce latency and enable near-autonomous decision making when responding to sensor
signals from IoT devices. This is especially important for time-critical use cases such as health
monitoring devices or autonomous vehicles, where split-second reactions can save lives.
By running applications and performing processing tasks closer to the customer, edge
computing allows autonomous IoT ecosystems to deliver superior performance with
reduced latency.
Leading providers of edge data center infrastructure include Dell, HPE, Lenovo, Cisco,
Huawei, and Inspur. Edge computing will also result in greater demand for high-end
processors from the likes of Nvidia and AMD and programmable chips from the likes of Intel
and Xilinx.
See Data Centers and Cloud Computing
IoT as a Service IoTaaS vendors provide various platforms to assist organizations with IoT deployment
(IoTaaS) without the need for in-house expertise.
IoTaaS aims to make it easy for enterprises to deploy and manage their connected devices.
IoTaaS has become an accelerator for enterprise IoT adoption, especially in predictive
maintenance, advanced automation, and condition monitoring.
As the world recovers from COVID-19 and economic growth returns, IoTaaS revenues are
likely to grow dramatically. Accenture, IBM, and Microsoft are among the IoTaaS providers
likely to see the biggest demand for their services.
Digital twins Through various simulation scenarios, digital twins can help optimize IoT deployments for
maximum efficiency and help IoT adopters figure out where things should go or how they
operate before they are physically deployed.
A digital twin is a software representation of physical assets and processes that allows an
organization to carry out ‘what if’ simulations. These simulations can be used to spot and
avert problems proactively, help prevent downtime, and speed up the development of new
products.
Digital twins differ in complexity. They range from the basic provision of 2D or 3D models of
a simple component to fully integrated and highly accurate models of an entire asset or a
facility.
Though COVID-19 has disrupted the rate of digital twin adoption, this technology will
undoubtedly play a vital role in enabling IoT adoption.
There are security risks. For instance, hackers can access critical systems now that those
systems are in digital form.
Leading providers of digital twin platforms include Dassault Systèmes, Bentley Systems, PTC,
IBM, Siemens, GE, Microsoft, and Atkins.
See Digital Twins


Wearables The fastest-growing segments of the wearable technology market are hearables and
smartwatches. COVID-19 driven changes in consumer behavior – including working from
home, increased digital media consumption, and the popularity of virtual fitness workouts –
is driving the adoption of wearables and increasing consumer IoT adoption.
Driven by COVID-19 and the boom in the home fitness market, wearable technology vendors
are integrating a range of health and fitness monitoring options into their devices, aided by
advances in biometric sensor technologies. Apple has patented a range of sensors for
monitoring heart rate, temperature, and galvanic skin response into their wearable range.
Vendors like Samsung Electronics also offer a built-in virtual fitness coaching assistant
accessed via their earbuds.
Beyond the consumer market, there is a range of industrial use cases for wearable
technology. The construction industry is exploring wearable devices in the workplace for
health and safety management. For example, Pro Gloves (wearable barcode scanner gloves)
is a wearable innovation for the logistics industry. Another wearable sub-segment, smart
glasses, will continue to play a vital role in business post-pandemic. For now, the high cost
of smart glasses remains a significant barrier to large-scale adoption. Apple, Facebook, and
Google are some of the leading innovators in this segment.
See Wearable Tech, Hearables, Smartwatches, Smart Glasses, and Smart Clothing
Next-gen chips The emphasis in chip design has shifted from a race to place more transistors onto a square
millimeter of silicon to a focus on building microprocessors as systems made up of multiple
components, each of which performs a specialized task.
As more and more sensors and microcontrollers are packed into the connected devices, the
pressure on the semiconductor industry to develop smaller, cheaper, and faster chips
ratchets up.
For IoT to be pervasive, the underlying semiconductor technology embedded within IoT
devices needs to be cheaper, more compact, and consume less power.
The companies most likely to benefit from this trend are Arm, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Intel.
See AI chips and Semiconductor Sector Scorecard
Software defined SDN is an emerging architecture for data networks. It allows software – rather than hardware
networking (SDN) – to control the network path along which data packets flow. It is still under development,
but, ultimately, it may replace IP networking, a hardware standard, as the main standard
governing the transmission mechanisms of the internet.
SDN will have a big impact on IoT ecosystems because it fundamentally changes who controls
the data center.
In the old days, traditional data center equipment manufacturers – like Cisco, HPE, IBM, and
Dell – used to control data centers because all the intelligence was in their hardware. Today,
players like Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and Facebook control data centers because most
of the intelligence is moving towards their software code.
Under SDN data center architecture, the underlying hardware becomes less relevant, and
the focus shifts to virtualized software, which results in increased flexibility and agility in
managing data centers.
SDN has been slow to take off, primarily because of cybersecurity concerns. SDN’s open
hardware standards threaten to commoditize networking and data center hardware, which
is still largely based on proprietary systems, and making it easier for internet companies to
program data networks.
See Software Defined Everything
Source: GlobalData

Macroeconomic trends
The table below highlights the key macroeconomic trends impacting the IoT theme.

COVID-19 Every CEO who has survived the pandemic now knows that they need to tech enable their
business to weather future storms.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced businesses to invest more in technology. IoT technology,
in particular, helped with tasks that required social distancing, remote working, or contact
tracing.
Examples of IoT solutions that helped in the pandemic include Software AG's Smart Social
Distancing Solution (which uses smart badges to alert the wearer if they approach the limit
of safe social distancing), Bosch.IO's workplace distancing and contact tracing solution, and
PwC's Check-In automated contact tracing tool.
In a post-COVID world, many organizations consider digitalization as their top priority, and
they see IoT as one of the enablers. Remote asset access and business process automation
will be prominent features in the office and factory of the future.
Fueled by this digital transformation wave, demand for new IoT applications will be driven
in 2021 by telemedicine, smart offices, remote asset monitoring, and location tracking
services.
See COVID-19 Cross Sector Impact Report
The US vs. China The US and China are locked in a battle for tech supremacy in 5G, AI, quantum computing,
autonomous vehicles, and other next-generation technologies.
The ensuing trade war has resulted in tariffs or bans on imports and exports of various goods
and technology transfers ranging from semiconductors to industrial robots and machinery,
computer storage devices, electrical components, imaging systems, and networking
equipment. It appears that the IoT ecosystems of the US and China, which once supported a
globalized supply chain, are decoupling.
This trade war is impacting many IoT technology leaders, including Amazon, Apple, Cisco,
Dell, Google, HPE, Huawei, Hikvision, IBM, Inspur, Intel, Microsoft, and ZTE from a supply
chain point of view.
See China Tech
IPO activity IoT was the fifth largest theme driving IPO activity in the technology, media, and telecom
(TMT) sector between 1 January 2018 and 31 December 2020, when measured by IPO
proceeds raised. The first four were ecommerce, mobile, fintech, and cloud.
During these three years, there were 35 IPOs where IoT was the primary thematic driver,
and they accounted for 5% of total IPO proceeds globally.
China hosted 28 of these deals, with the US hosting six deals. In terms of IPO proceeds raised,
the three most significant deals were Foxconn Industrial Internet (which raised $4.3bn in
Shanghai), ADT (which raised $1.5bn in New York), and Vivint (which raised $0.7bn in a
reverse merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Mosaic Acquisition to list
in New York).
See Tech, Media, & Telecom IPO Themes
M&A activity IoT was the seventh-largest theme driving M&A activity in the TMT sector in 2020 when
measured by transaction value. The first six thematic drivers were connectivity, big data,
cloud, fintech, digital media, and gaming.
See M&A in TMT – 2020 Themes


Sustainability IoT can be an enabler for a more sustainable world.
A 2018 analysis of more than 640 IoT deployments, undertaken by the World Economic
Forum in collaboration with IoT Analytics, showed that 84% of existing IoT deployments
address, or have the power to advance, the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs).
As an example of how IoT can help create effective environmental policymaking, in China,
air-quality monitors are reported to have helped policymakers reduce fine particle pollution
by 32% nationwide between 2013 and 2017. According to another case study in the US,
sensor-embedded wind turbines reduced wind farms' costs by 20%. Another interesting
environmental sustainability use case is smart glasses. Facebook's CEO has predicted that by
2030, people could use advanced smart glasses for virtual teleportation, using a combination
of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), which could reduce travel, resulting in a
positive effect on climate change.
While IoT solutions can address a range of sustainability goals, the manufacture of connected
devices creates its own environmental issues. For one, it generates copious amounts of
electronic waste. Though many technology vendors – from Apple to HPE and Samsung
Electronics – are launching green initiatives towards sustainable e-waste management, there
are growing calls for regulators to bring greater transparency to environmental audits to
reduce the levels of greenwashing.
See Sustainability
Source: GlobalData

Regulatory trends
The table below highlights the key regulatory trends impacting the IoT theme.

IoT regulation The rapid growth of the IoT market has raised several security concerns. These typically
revolve around the lack of regulation and the lack of common IoT standards. Legislation
covering IoT security remains a fragmented patchwork of laws.
As IoT deployments grow, governments have started to focus on this issue. New governance
measures are also gaining traction. In May 2020, the US's National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST) released the Foundational Cybersecurity Activities for IoT Device
Manufacturers guidelines. Similarly, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute
(ETSI) has released a technical specification guide on Cyber Security for the Consumer IoT
segment, which outlines leading security practices for consumer IoT devices. One of the most
critical government initiatives was the US IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act, signed in
December 2020.
Until regulators coordinate efforts to agree on international IoT security standards, IoT
ecosystems will continue to expose many enterprises to unacceptable levels of security risk.
See Tech Regulation
Data privacy In addition to cybersecurity risk, IoT ecosystems also raise data privacy concerns for both
consumers and employees.
A case in point was the data leak suffered by Ring in 2019, where hackers breached Ring home
security cameras to digitally intrude into family homes, harass children, and even demand
ransoms.
A 2020 survey by the World Economic Forum identified safety, privacy, and trust as the
biggest risks for consumers using IoT devices. The survey also highlighted consumers' lack of
awareness about the data collected by IoT devices, a problem that persists across the IoT
value chain.
In addition to common IoT security standards, regulators will also have to address the data
privacy concerns so widespread within the consumer IoT domain.
See Data Privacy
Source: GlobalData

Industry analysis
From a wearable fitness tracker to a smart speaker at home, from a connected car to a smart building, and from advanced
automation to asset tracking, IoT plays a role in every aspect of life in every industry.
COVID-19 has highlighted the crucial role the IoT has come to play in our lives. Many traditional use-cases like smart city
projects were put on hold as businesses coped with the pandemic-driven economic slowdown and governments
reprioritized budgets in response to the health crisis.
By contrast, several IoT use cases saw growing adoption during the pandemic, such as using connected thermal cameras
to detect potential COVID-19 infections and sensors for monitoring office occupancy levels. The demand for technologies
that can help the workforce get safely back to work is rising and will likely continue to grow. IoT applications such as
contact tracing devices and health-monitoring wearables provide critical data to help fight the pandemic.
These new use cases have created a positive attitude towards IoT as a critical enabler of the future. According to
GlobalData’s Emerging Technology Trends Survey 2020, which polled more than 1,700 senior executives worldwide in
the summer of 2020, approximately 48% of the respondents showed a positive sentiment towards IoT and believed IoT
would help them get through the pandemic. However, 22% of respondents thought IoT was all hype and no substance.
By October 2020, six months into the pandemic, sentiment towards IoT had become increasingly
optimistic, but many still believed IoT was over-hyped
48% of the respondents said their optimism towards IoT 22% of respondents stated that IoT is all hype and no
had improved following the COVID-19 outbreak substance, and another 37% said IoT is hyped but useful
Source: GlobalData Emerging Technology Trends Survey 2020, published October 2020

Business benefits of IoT

IoT is one of the primary enablers of digital transformation. When combined with other emerging technologies, such as
AI, 5G, and cloud computing, it can lead to enhanced operational efficiency, reduced costs, improved decision-making,
and better customer experience. Let’s look at each of these business benefits in turn:
▪ Enhanced operational efficiency: IoT technology makes use of connected devices that track, monitor, control,
and manage various operations across a business. This allows many manual processes to be automated, and
maintenance needs to be predicted in advance, raising productivity.
▪ Reduced costs: Greater automation reduces the need for workers, resulting in cost savings.
▪ Improved decision-making: Sensors within IoT devices generate lots of data. Analysis of this data can lead to
the development of optimized business strategies, improved business processes, and provide managers the
analysis they need to make better informed operational decisions.
▪ Better customer experience: User-specific data generated through smart devices can help businesses
understand customers' expectations and behavior better. Analysis of this data can enable sales and marketing
teams for targeted advertising, fine-tune pricing policy, and improve customer services.
Referring again to our Emerging Technology Trends Survey 2020, companies that successfully integrate IoT into their
business will not only improve their business operations over the next three years but also find new sales opportunities.
The majority of respondents said IoT would play a critical role in supporting new business development over the next
three years.
IoT is expected to improve business efficiency and generate new business opportunities
The majority of respondents expected IoT to positively 45% believed IoT would play a critical role in new
impact their business over the next three years business generation over the next three years
Source: GlobalData Emerging Technology Trends Survey 2020

Evolving IoT business models

Historically, much of the actual value of IoT came from industrial applications. This is not the flashy multicolored world
of the automated home. It’s the domain of grimy factory machines.
Currently, the consumer IoT market is beginning to take off. More than 5 billion consumers own a smartphone. We
expect spending on wearable technology to increase from $59bn in 2020 to $156bn by 2024. Penetration of automated
home technology is rising too, with our forecasts for spending on the automated home rising from $66bn in 2020 to
$93bn by 2024.
The next phase of IoT has the potential to transform how we live and work. As IoT penetration extends to the point of
being pervasive, entirely new business models will emerge. IoT networks will even do business with one another,
providing services resulting from autonomous, or near-autonomous, collaboration. IoT enabled factories could operate
with far greater efficiency and flexibility. Farms could increase productivity and improve sustainability. Cities could
optimize their use of resources and offer residents all kinds of new services at a lower cost. To make these new IoT
ecosystems more intelligent and communicative and reduce the human-machine gap, connected things will be
embedded with AI capabilities.
The rapid growth of IoT is already raising critical concerns about its security, its effect on privacy, and the fair and equal
distribution of its benefits, as well as its potential to adversely impact the rights of individuals.
Evolving IoT business models: IoT is entering the third phase of its evolution
The below graphic shows how IoT will evolve from a business perspective across industries
Timeline Before Now After
▪ Process improvement ▪ Business model extension ▪ • All new business models

▪ Retrofit ▪ Designed into the solution ▪ • IoT is the solution
IoT Type ▪ The “Grimy IoT” ▪ The “Shiny IoT” ▪ • The “Pervasive IoT”
▪ Industrial control
▪ As a service ▪ Is the service
Outcome ▪ Remote monitoring and
▪ Ecosystem integration ▪ Holistic integration
management
▪ New revenues ▪ Your revenues
▪ Cost-savings
Source: GlobalData

The three prerequisites for pervasive IoT

Today’s IoT systems lack three critical features: global IoT communication standards, regulated security practices, and
real-time intelligence. For IoT to be pervasive, these three deficiencies need to be addressed.
Standardization is the key to pervasive IoT

The three prerequisites for pervasive IoT
Global IoT
communication
standards
Pervasive IoT
Real-time IoT Global IoT security

intelligence standards
Source: GlobalData
Let's take a more detailed view of the three prerequisites for pervasive IoT.
Prerequisite 1: The world needs to agree on a global IoT communications standard

Today, there are billions of connected devices worldwide, but there is no global IoT communication standard. The global
IoT market can only take off once all connected devices speak the same language.
This has kicked off an intense battle for domination of the communications protocol that will govern the IoT. The
successful communications protocol is likely to have two components:
▪ a single interconnection standard

▪ a common language
Single interconnection standard

The interconnection standard must be low cost, low power, and wireless if it is to be readily accepted worldwide. Of the
current wireless technologies, the main contenders are Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Wi-Fi, 4G, and 5G mobile, powerline,
DECT, LoRaWAN, Sigfox, Weightless, and Zigbee. Each technology is promoted by vested interests from competing
standards bodies ranging from the IEEE to the GSMA. Range is also an issue. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Zigbee are all short-
range wireless technologies suitable for the home or office, but they are inadequate for applications in the automotive,
healthcare, and logistics industries that require longer-range communication like Weightless, LoRaWAN, or Sigfox.
5G could be the closest thing we have to a single interconnection standard. 2021 will see more 5G trials and many
commercial launches. According to GlobalData forecasts, there were more than 400 million active 5G subscriptions at
the end of 2020, and this figure will rise to more than 3 billion globally by 2025.
The advent of 5G is closely aligned with IoT. The ultra-low latency, high-speed bandwidth, high capacity, and network
slicing attributes of the technology will add support for new use cases ranging from robotics, digital twins, and
manufacturing automation to real-time analytics, autonomous vehicles, and smart cities. To execute on 5G’s potential,
operators need to embark on a process of business and technology experimentation – all of which they can do in the
near term with LTE.

Among other wireless technologies, Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) is a commonly used standard. Due to its
capabilities to transmit small amounts of data at a time (often just a few kilobits), it consumes less power, supporting
the large-scale IoT networks sprawling over vast industrial spaces, where power usage is an issue. LPWAN will be pivotal
to future revenue streams for IoT service providers hoping to increase their number of IoT connections to massive
volumes. This is due to LPWAN technology’s low-cost modules, low connectivity prices, and power and battery-saving
capabilities.
Common language
For all the world’s connected devices to understand each other, they must interpret different operating systems. Some
of these operating systems could be proprietary (e.g., Apple iOS, Microsoft Windows, or Oracle Solaris), while others
may be open source (e.g., Linux or Google Android). Moreover, many open-source operating systems are tweaked by
the hardware manufacturer, making the whole open-source world somewhat fragmented: Samsung phones use their
version of Android, for example.
As a result, the world’s leading technology and telecoms players are all vying for influence in the standards-setting
process. Many have already set up their own standards bodies. Various alliances have established the standards bodies
in the table below. However, there is still a lack of cooperation for achieving universally applicable standards.
The leading standards body for the Industrial Internet is called the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), founded in 2014.
The IIC – whose founding members include Intel, Cisco, AT&T, GE, and IBM – aims "to test applications, coming up with
best practices and standards, influencing IoT standards for Internet and industrial systems, creating a forum for sharing
ideas and in general pushing the ecosystem forward.” It has a broad membership of over 250 firms, including Microsoft,
Samsung Electronics, Infosys, SAP, Kuka, Dell, and HP.
Until broad, open, standardized, industrial-scale platform as a service (PaaS) comes on stream, IoT's mass adoption could
be held back. With the formation of the IIC, the march towards universal standards and protocols has begun. Meanwhile,
rival platforms will coexist, competing and collaborating.
Standards body Description Members

Industrial Internet An Intel-led project whose aim "is to accelerate the Founding members include AT&T,
Consortium development and availability of intelligent industrial Cisco, GE, IBM, and Intel. More
Founded 2014 automation for the public good." than 250 participants.
IoT World Alliance This partnership between numerous regional telcos is NTT DoCoMo, Telstra, Telefónica,
Founded 2012 designed to develop cost-effective, easily managed, fully Veon, Beeline, DNA, Telenor
compliant connectivity solutions for customers with Connexion, KPN, and Singtel.
global requirements.
OMA SpecWorks Provides more than 150 specifications and developer More than 30 members, including
Founded 2002 tools facilitating the development of products based on AT&T, Qualcomm, Arm, Ericsson,
Lightweight M2M (LwM2M), the IoT device Softbank, Verizon, and Intel.
management protocol.
Eclipse IoT Eclipse IoT promotes the development and adoption of Three strategic members (Bosch,
Founded 2012 open-source standards for IoT technology. Eurotech, Red Hat), and 40
participating members.
Open Connectivity An industry organization to develop and promote Over 500 member organizations
Foundation standards and interoperability guidelines. Provides a including Intel, Samsung, Cisco,
Founded 2016 certification program for devices involved in IoT. GE, Atmel, IBM, MediaTek, ZTE.
Thread Group A Google-led project aimed at creating a new IP-based More than 100 members
Founded 2014 wireless networking protocol for the automated home. including, Google, Apple,
Samsung, Arm, NXP, Amazon.

Standards body Description Members

Zigbee Alliance An open, non-profit association of approximately 450 Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Google,
Founded 2002 members driving the development of Zigbee standards. NXP Semiconductors, Silicon Labs,
STMicroelectronics.
LoRA Alliance A non-profit association of more than 500 members IBM, Cisco, HP, Foxconn, Semtech,
Founded 2015 committed to developing and promoting the LoRaWAN Sagemcom, Bosch, Schneider
open standard. Electric.
Open Platforms An industry consortium that creates and maintains More than 750 member
Communication standards for open connectivity of industrial automation organizations including, Intel,
(OPC) Foundation devices and systems. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, NXP.
Founded 1999
3rd Generation A telecommunication standards body, which provides Seven standard development
Partnership Project the specification for mobile telecommunications. organizations: ARIB, ATIS, CCSA,
(3GPP) ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, and TTC.
Founded 1998
Institute of A standard body of experts and specialists that More than 400,000 members in
Electrical and develops, defines, and reviews electronics and over 160 countries.
Electronics computer science standards. It creates frameworks for
Engineers (IEEE) IoT architecture, IoT security, and sensor technology.
Founded 1963
ISO/IEC JTC 1 A joint technical committee of the International 35 participating members and 65
Founded 1987 Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the observing members.
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Produces guiding principles for implementing and
maintaining the trustworthiness of IoT systems and
services.
Source: GlobalData
Prerequisite 2: The IoT needs to be more secure

Unstructured and fragmented security regulations are a significant roadblock for broader IoT adoption (both consumer
and enterprise IoT).
Fears around data privacy are widespread. Individuals may be concerned about the hacking of security cameras or other
smart devices in their own homes. At the same time, businesses fear the impact of malicious attacks that can steal
sensitive data or disrupt critical operations.
Current IoT solutions rarely contain adequate anti-tampering measures or comply with all applicable data protection
standards and regulations designed to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data. Failure to embed trust in
connected devices may lead to costly and disastrous consequences such as identity theft, industrial espionage,
ransomware attacks, or fatal accidents involving autonomous vehicles.
Three major factors are affecting IoT security:
Lack of IoT security regulations

There is no unified global IoT security standard spanning all five layers of our IoT value chain, from the device layer to
the connectivity layer, data layer, app layer, and services layer. Though some regulatory initiatives are underway (like
the US IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation), they are very fragmented
and do not address concerns around IoT security as a whole.

Lack of security features embedded into IoT device hardware

The main challenge for organizations trying to address IoT security is that many devices have weak or no security
controls. Under fierce commercial pressures, IoT device manufacturers often prioritize the performance and price factor
over device security. Security cameras are an example of the sort of device at risk. In late 2016, the Mirai botnet
overwhelmed several high-profile targets with massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. It infected nearly
65,000 IoT devices in its first 20 hours before reaching a steady-state population of between 200,000 and 300,000
infections.
Lack of manufacturer concern over data privacy

IoT devices can be very intrusive; smartphones track our location, smartwatches track our health, and security cameras
provide surveillance on our families. Data breaches such as the Amazon Ring camera breach can be devastating. In 2019,
multiple families’ security systems were compromised. Hackers harassed children while they were sleeping and even
demanded ransoms. Many manufacturers do not have transparent policies to explain how they use personal data.
Prerequisite 3: The IoT must incorporate real-time intelligence

Pervasive IoT implies full automation. Automation requires real-time intelligence. Real-time IoT intelligence relies to a
large extent on two technologies: edge computing and AIoT.
Edge computing
Most IoT devices are dumb – they do not have sufficient computing power to analyze the data they generate. The data
generated by a dumb IoT device is usually processed and analyzed in a data center in the cloud, and instruction is then
sent back to the IoT device. These data centers tend to be remotely located. The further the distance between the IoT
device and the data center, the higher the latency (i.e., the time delay in sending and receiving a data instruction).
Latency can be 0.82 milliseconds for every 100 miles the data has to travel.
Since real-time decision-making requires extremely low latency, locating the data center closer to the IoT device at the
edge of the network can help.
Intelligent edge computing is the answer for such scenarios. Edge devices and gateways-to-edge devices are becoming
smarter and more powerful. These intelligent edge devices will accelerate local data collection, storage, and analysis
without waiting for data to be delivered to the cloud. By combining AI and edge computing, IoT solutions are becoming
more powerful, and the latency issues associated with cloud computing are being eliminated.
Edge computing reduces latency by moving cloud processing closer to the data source
Data generated from an IoT device must travel greater distances to get to a cloud data center than it does to get to
an edge computing data center
Source: Avnet

AIoT
AIoT involves embedding AI technology into IoT
components and combining data collected by sensors Intelligent predictive maintenance system can work
and actuators with the analytical capabilities of AI. proactively to detect issues in the car
Tesla’s predictive maintenance system
Within a factory, connected components powered by
AI and edge computing capabilities can continuously
monitor device performance to detect any anomalies
before a breakdown happens. If a fault is detected, the
system can automatically schedule maintenance to fix
it before it becomes severe.
The AI algorithms can predict the remaining useful life

of a component and plan maintenance visits based on
data inputs from sensors in the connected component.
An example of this form of AIoT in operation is Tesla’s

in-car intelligent predictive maintenance application.
The Tesla app determines if a vehicle's components Source: Launch Media

need replacing. If a replacement is required, the
vehicle will notify its owner that it has pre-ordered the specific part from its local service center.
According to GlobalData’s Emerging Technology Trends Survey 2020, 54% of the 1,700 corporate executives surveyed
responded that they were already investing in AI technology, and 43% will accelerate their AI investment in 2021.

The most talked-about areas of IoT

IoT technology is inter-related to many other technology themes, as shown by the word cloud below. This is taken from
our Influencers tool, which aggregates tweets from thought leaders in the IoT domain.
AI, machine learning (ML), big data, and data science are the most talked-about areas in relation to IoT by thought leaders
on Twitter. This word cloud provides indicative evidence supporting the view that AI and, in particular, ML (a subset of
AI) are the primary enablers for IoT.
Here are some of the most-tweeted keywords relating to IoT between January 2020 and January 2021
The word cloud, taken from GlobalData’s Influencers Database, shows how IoT intertwines with a range of
emerging technologies
Source: GlobalData Influencers Database

Patent trends
Filings of patent applications for IoT-related inventions started to take off in the early 2010s, peaking in 2018. Meanwhile,
IoT-related patent grants almost doubled between 2018 and 2020, according to GlobalData’s patents database.
IoT related patent applications are soaring

Between 2014 and 2020, the number of IoT-related China is the top assignee for IoT patent publications
patent filings increased almost tenfold.
Source: GlobalData
Our patents database incorporates over 108 million patents. By tagging patents to themes, we can see which
technologies are seeing the most R&D expenditure. According to our patents database, the key trends driving IoT-related
patents are the automated home, the connected car, and autonomous vehicles. While automated home-related patents
have topped the count of all patent publications over the last 10 years, connected car and autonomous vehicle-related
patents have seen a surge in the last two years. Patents relating to the Industrial Internet and robotics are now beginning
to lag these areas. Of the 2,440 IoT-related patent applications in 2020, China alone is responsible for 69% of them, with
1,683 applications. Samsung Group is the top IoT patent assignee with 529 IoT-related applications in the last eight years,
followed by Alphabet and Chinese major appliance manufacturer Gree Electric.
Samsung Group is the leading assignee for IoT-related patents

The graph shows top assignees of IoT patent publications as of 30 April 2021
Top Patent Assignees
Source: GlobalData

Market size and growth forecasts

The global IoT market was worth $622bn in 2020, up from $586bn in 2019, and will grow to reach $1,077bn by 2024,
with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13% over the period, according to GlobalData forecasts. The enterprise
IoT dominates the overall IoT market, generating 76% of total revenue in 2020. This dominance of the enterprise IoT will
continue for the foreseeable future. GlobalData expects this segment to still occupy 73% of the overall IoT market in
2024. The enterprise IoT market will grow at a CAGR of 12.4%, and consumer IoT revenue will increase at a CAGR of
14.6% between 2019 and 2024.
The global IoT market will generate a staggering $1,077bn in revenue by 2024, up from $622bn in 2020
Enterprise IoT accounted for 76% of the market in 2020. Consumer IoT revenues will increase from 24% of the total
in 2020 to 27% by 2024, with much of the growth coming from wearables
Source: GlobalData
In 2020, the overall IoT market saw sluggish growth as COVID-19 interrupted IoT deployments. In the consumer IoT
domain, the connected car market declined by 10%, and the automated home segment saw just 1% growth in 2020. The
top performer during the year was the wearables market, which saw 16% revenue growth. Within enterprise IoT, smart
cities and Industrial Internet saw moderate yearly increases of 8% and 7%, respectively.
The Industrial Internet dominates the global IoT market, accounting for 40% of the IoT market in 2020
Wearable tech will see the highest growth, with a CAGR of 24.6% from 2019 to 2024
Global IoT revenue by sub-segment, 2019 to 2024

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
600
500
Revenue ($bn)
400
300
200
100
-
Industrial Internet Smart cities Wearables Automated home Connected car
Source: GlobalData

Enterprise IoT market size and growth forecasts

The two big enterprises IoT markets are the Industrial Internet and smart cities.
Industrial Internet market size and growth forecasts

Industrial Internet revenues reached $247bn in 2020, up from $231bn in 2019. We forecast they will hit $555bn by 2024,
growing at a CAGR of 19.1% between 2019 and 2024.
The market consists of various applications such as advanced automation, asset tracking, conditional monitoring,
environmental monitoring, healthtech, people and animal tracking, and telematics. Conditional monitoring applications
occupied the biggest market share in 2020 and are expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.7% from 2019 to 2024 to reach
$293bn by 2024.
Due to an increasing focus on environmental sustainability, environmental monitoring applications are expected to grow
at a CAGR of 54.3% to reach $170bn by 2024.
The global market for Industrial Internet will surpass $555bn by 2024
It is driven by conditional monitoring, which will account for 53% of the total Industrial Internet market in 2024
Global Industrial Internet revenue by use cases, 2019 to 2024

600
500
Healthcare
400
Revenue ($bn)
Advanced automation
People & animal tracking
300
Asset tracking
200 Telematics
Environmental monitoring
100
Conditional monitoring
0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Source: GlobalData
Smart cities market size and growth forecasts

GlobalData expects the smart cities market to grow from $207bn in 2019 to $231bn by 2024, equivalent to a CAGR of
nearly 2.2% between 2019 and 2024.
The market breaks down into five constituent parts: smart buildings, smart metering, smart payment system, smart
signage, and smart city platforms.
The biggest growth will come from smart metering, followed by smart city platforms and smart buildings. The smart
metering market will grow at a CAGR of 2.3% from 2019 to 2014 to reach nearly $122bn.

The global smart cities market will reach well over $231bn by 2024
Driven primarily by smart metering, which will occupy more than 50% of the total smart cities market in 2024
Global smart cities revenue by components, 2019 to 2024

300
250
200
Revenue ($bn)
Smart payment systems

150
Smart signage
100 Smart buildings

Smart city platforms
50
Smart metering
0
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Source: GlobalData
Consumer IoT market size and growth forecasts

The three main consumer IoT markets are the connected car, the automated home, and wearable technology.
Connected car market size and growth forecasts

In 2020 the connected car segment was detrimentally affected by the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic forced consumers
to think about their transportation and travel needs. The pandemic could be a pivotal moment in the more wide-scale
adoption of connected vehicle technologies. We expect the connected car’s market value to climb to $42bn by 2024
from $30bn in 2019, with a CAGR of 6.8%.
The global connected car was worth $27bn in 2020 and will reach $42bn by 2024
Segments include in-vehicle infotainment and consumer telematics
Source: GlobalData

Automated home market size and growth forecasts

The next few years will see moderate growth in the automated home market. GlobalData estimates that spending on
automated home devices globally totaled $65bn in 2019. Our forecasts suggest that this figure will increase to $93bn by
2024, having growth as a CAGR of 7.4% over the forecast period.
The global automated home market was worth $66bn in 2020 and will reach $93bn by 2024
It includes smart security, smart appliances, smart speakers, smart thermostats, and smart lighting
Source: GlobalData
Of the five primary sub-segments of the automated home segment, the top three sub-categories in terms of market
revenue were smart appliances, smart security, and smart speakers, which accounted for 35%, 34%, and 18% of the total
market in 2020, respectively. As automated home technology advances, smart security will increasingly dominate this
sector. GlobalData expects market revenue of smart security systems to occupy 38% of the global automated home
market by 2024, followed by smart appliances with a 25% share.
Wearable tech market size and growth forecasts

The wearable tech industry was worth $59bn in 2020, up from $52bn in 2019, and will grow to reach $156bn by 2024,
expanding at a CAGR of 24.6%, according to GlobalData forecasts. The lion’s share of the growth will come from
hearables and smartwatches, while fitness trackers' popularity will wane due to their limited capabilities compared to
smartwatches. Other segments such as smart clothing, AR headsets, VR headsets, and smart glasses are still in the early
stages of development.
Hearables accounted for more than 60% of the wearable tech market in 2020, driven mainly by demand for Apple
AirPods and the growth of brands such as Samsung Electronics, Google, Bragi, Plantronics, Sony, Jabra, and Nuheara.
Smartwatches accounted for 26% of the wearable tech market in 2020, driven mainly by demand for Apple Watches and
the growth of brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Garmin, and Samsung Electronics.

Wearable tech revenues will more than double over five years, from $59bn in 2020 to $156bn by 2024
The market includes hearables, smartwatches, VR headsets, fitness trackers, smart clothing, smart glasses, and AR
headsets.
Source: GlobalData. See GlobalData Thematic Forecasts to 2024: Wearables for a comprehensive forecast of the wearable technology market.

Mergers and acquisitions

IoT was a key driver behind many M&A deals across the global TMT sector in the last five years. Indeed, in 2020 alone,
IoT was the seventh-largest theme driving M&A activity in the TMT sector, as illustrated in M&A in TMT – 2020 themes.
The table below lists some of the key M&A deals with a transaction value above $1bn announced over the last five years
where the primary deal driver is the IoT theme.
Date Acquirer Target Value Themes

announced ($m)
Feb 2021 Renesas Dialog 5,903 IoT, Industrial Internet
Electronics Semiconductor
Jan 2021 Teledyne FLIR Systems 8,363 Industrial Internet, computer vision,
Technologies autonomous vehicles, robotics, AI
Dec 2020 GlobalWafers Siltronic 4,486 Mobile, IoT, robotics
Dec 2020 Honeywell Sparta Systems 1,300 Data analytics, big data, cloud, industrial
International automation, AI
Dec 2020 Hyundai Motor Boston Dynamics 1,100 Industrial automation, robotics, supply
Group (80% stake) chain & logistics, autonomous vehicles
Oct 2020 AMD Xilinx 35,000 Data centers, high-performance computing,
AI, Industrial Internet
Sep 2020 Nvidia Arm 40,000 IoT, connectivity, data centers
Sep 2020 Ericsson Cradlepoint 1,000 Connectivity, cloud, 5G, IoT, edge
computing
Aug 2020 Teladoc Livongo 18,500 IoT, healthtech, remote patient monitoring
Aug 2020 AVEVA Group OSIsoft 5,000 IoT, Industrial Internet
Jul 2020 Analog Devices Maxim Integrated 20,447 IoT, 5G, healthtech, data centers, Industrial
Internet, connectivity
Jun 2020 Telxius Telecom Telefonica 1,704 Data analytics, connectivity, IoT
Deutschland
(wireless towers)
Jun 2020 Amazon Zoox1 1,200 Autonomous vehicles, sustainability
Mar 2020 Microsoft Affirmed 1,350 5G, cloud, SDN, IoT

Networks
Feb 2020 Schneider Electric RIB Software 1,500 Smart cities, environment
Feb 2020 Advent ForeScout 1,900 IoT, cybersecurity

International;
Crosspoint Capital
Jan 2020 BorgWarner Delphi 3,300 IoT, connected car
Technologies
Jan 2020 CapitalG; Insight Armis 1,100 IoT, cybersecurity, network security
Partners
Nov 2019 Google Fitbit 2,100 Wearable tech, healthtech, IoT, health &
wellness
Jul 2019 AMS Osram 4,982 IoT, automated home

Date Acquirer Target Value Themes

announced ($m)
Jun 2019 Capgemini Altran 4,100 Future of work, IoT, edge computing
Technologies
Jun 2019 Infineon Cypress 10,051 IoT, connectivity, connected car, batteries
Jan 2019 DXC Technology Luxoft 2,000 Cloud, IoT, blockchain
Jan 2019 Bridgestone TomTom 1,035 Connected car

(telematics unit)
Dec 2018 Merck & Co Antelliq 2,400 IoT, healthtech
Dec 2018 NEC KMD 1,219 AI, cloud, biometrics, smart cities
Nov 2018 Broadcom CA Technologies 18,900 Cloud, AI, IoT
Nov 2018 CommScope ARRIS 7,400 Automated home, surveillance, internet TV
Sep 2018 Renesas IDT 6,700 IoT
Jul 2018 Broadcom CA Technologies 18,900 Cloud, AI, IoT
Jul 2018 Fortive Accruent 2,000 IoT, cloud
Mar 2018 Microchip Tech Microsemi 8,500 IoT
Feb 2018 Advent Laird 1,650 Connected car, smartphones
Feb 2018 Amazon Ring 1,000 Automated home
Feb 2018 Motorola Avigilon 1,000 IoT, surveillance
Mar 2017 Intel Mobileye 15,300 Autonomous vehicles, IoT

Source: GlobalData
We expect IoT M&A momentum to continue in 2021. Many leading semiconductor companies like Intel, Nvidia,
Qualcomm, AMD, and Samsung Electronics are likely to continue looking for targets in sensors, microcontrollers,
computer vision, and AI chip technologies.
In the wearables segment, Big Tech companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, and Samsung Electronics may
look at targets such as Garmin and GoPro.
In the automated home segment, established players like Amazon, Google, and Alibaba may look for acquisitions in
smart security technology.
On the Industrial Internet side, healthtech companies are likely to be popular bid targets. GE, Honeywell, Schneider
Electric, Dassault Systèmes, Siemens and, SAP will also target acquisitions in Industrial Internet technology.

Timeline
According to a 2011 Cisco white paper written by Dave Evans, the IoT was born between 2008 and 2009, when the
number of connected devices exceeded the number of people worldwide. Of course, evidence of implementation of IoT-
related concepts dates back decades, but many academics saw 2009 as the turning point. Today, billions of connected
devices exist, such as cars, fridges, speakers, watches, and heart monitors. In the timeline below, we have captured the
key milestones in the history of the IoT and made a few predictions on how it will evolve.
The IoT story

How did this theme get here, and where is it going?
1995 Siemens funded the development of M1, a GSM data module for machine-to-machine (M2M) industry
applications.
1999 Procter & Gamble's Kevin Ashton first coined the term “Internet of Things,” referring to the link between RFID
technology in P&G's supply chain and the internet.
2000 LG announced the world's first internet-connected fridge.
2003 BigBelly Solar launched one of the world’s first connected things: a smart, solar-powered trash can that could send
notifications over the internet when it was full.
2005 The UN published its first report on the IoT via the ITU.
2008 The IPSO Alliance was founded to promote the use of IP in connected devices.
2009 The number of connected devices exceeded the number of people on Earth.
2011 Nest Labs launched the Nest Learning Thermostat.
2013 Qualcomm founded the AllSeen Alliance, and a few months later, Intel set up the Open Internet Consortium. Both
standards bodies were set up to create rival communications protocols for IoT.
2014 Google acquired Nest Labs.
Google launched Google Glass.
Apple launched the Apple Watch and the Apple Homekit.
2016 GE announced its Predix IoT platform.
2017 Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and Long Range low power wireless platforms began to gain traction.
2018 The rollout of 5G began alongside national LPWAN initiatives.
2020 COVID-19 disrupted the IoT ecosystem. IoT-based tools supported workplace distancing and contact tracing
solutions.
The US IoT Cybersecurity improvement Act was signed into law.
Cisco discontinued its smart city offering.
AIoT became the new buzzword.
2021 This will be the year of catch up in 5G mass adoption, eventually impacting low latency IoT use cases.
IoT with advanced analytics will become prominent in healthcare and advanced manufacturing.
IoT security will become a top priority among vendors. Regulators and industry bodies will deploy more robust
cybersecurity measures.
2022 Intelligent edge will become mainstream and a primary accelerator for IoT.
2023 IoT-related supply chain and chip manufacturing will become more flexible and robust.
Industrial IoT connections will overtake consumer ones by 2023, according to GSMA.
2025 Near ubiquitous connectivity for IoT devices lowers the cost of operation to below 1c per day.
The number of IoT devices is expected to reach 25.1 bn, according to GSMA.
IoT will be the driving force for semiconductor companies.
2030 The use of AR and VR in IoT will be pervasive.
2035 There will be one trillion IoT devices, according to predictions by Arm.
Source: GlobalData, GSMA, Arm

Value chain
We split the value chain for IoT into five layers: devices, connectivity, data, apps, and services. While these layers are
logically discrete, large-scale IoT solutions will see a considerable degree of blurring of these logical boundaries. For
example, while there will continue to be a clearly identifiable data layer towards the top of the stack, a growing
proportion of the data processing will take place within and at the edge of the network.
From the point of view of IoT adopters, it is also crucial to note that value is only realized by IoT adopters in the
application layer. All the data that an IoT network collects is ultimately worthless until action is taken because of it,
whether that is in the form of an instruction to an irrigation unit, or an alarm sent to a maintenance engineer, or an
emergency call made to a doctor.
Our Internet of Things value chain

The five layers in our IoT value chain are devices, connectivity, data, apps, and services
Device layer Connectivity layer Data layer App layer
Data governance
and security
Business
intelligence
Connected things Edge infrastructure
Data analysis
Cameras and lenses Cloud infrastructure Apps
Data storage
Networking Platforms
Microprocessors
equipment
Data processing
Sensors &
Telecom networks
microcontrollers
Data aggregation
Data integration
Services layer
Automated home Connected car Wearable tech Industrial Internet

Smart city services
services services services services
Source: GlobalData
In the device layer, we find the makers of connected things, including sensors, embedded chips, and their components.
Connected things can include connected cars, smart thermostats, fitness bands, smart light bulbs, or a parcel in a delivery
truck. The essential electronic components include microcontroller chips, AI chips, communications chips, and sensors.

The difficulty in picking winners at this stage is that we are in the midst of a battle to determine the winning
communications standard for IoT. Qualcomm, Arm, Intel, and Broadcom are some of the contenders.
In the connectivity layer, providers of network connections are the key players, including major telecom operators and
networking equipment vendors. We also find in this category makers of edge devices (e.g., routers and gateways), which
provide entry into the communications network. Cisco, Huawei, and Ericsson are the leaders here. Cloud and edge
computing service providers such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google also play an important role. IoT is likely to change
the way they make money: today, most users of connected devices are humans; tomorrow, most users will be machines.
So, the future of many operators in an IoT world may well depend on the business model they adopt to monetize M2M
traffic.
In the data layer, the information collected from connected things is stored, cleansed, integrated with other systems,
and analyzed. Much of the analytics, security, and management is provided by companies offering infrastructure as a
service (IaaS). Leaders in this space include Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and IBM. Various big data service providers such
as SAP, Oracle, and Salesforce are also leaders in this segment.
In the app layer, we find the smart hubs that control and monitor connected things. This is where the long-term value
resides. Apple and Google are leaders in consumer IoT, while GE, Honeywell, PTC, and Bosch are leaders in the Industrial
Internet. This layer is also where start-ups are most active.
In the services layer, we find the technology service providers who provide system integration, consulting, and other
data services related to the development and maintenance of IoT ecosystems. IoT services have become a necessary
addition to the IoT value chain over the last decade because many IoT adopters lack the design, technical, integration,
or data analysis skills to be able to deliver a successful IoT implementation. Accenture, Deloitte, Cognizant, and IBM are
some of the players in the IoT services market.
On the following pages, we look at each of these five layers of the value chain in more detail.

Device layer
Today, most connected devices – such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops – are controlled by humans. In the IoT, most
connected things will be run by other connected things. For the manufacturer of a washing machine, door lock, light
bulb, aircraft engine, or car, the key question is not whether their things should be connected to the internet – that is a
given. Instead, the challenge is whether the manufacturer can retain the bulk of the added value during the transition
to IoT and how it can utilize the data collected by various embedded chips, sensors, antennae, and beacons. Some of the
industry profits are likely to be siphoned out by technology companies that increasingly provide IoT solutions as a service.
The Internet of Things value chain

Device layer: leaders and challengers
Device layer Leaders Challengers
Alibaba Huawei Baidu Mobvoi

Connected Amazon Lenovo Garmin Seiko Epson
things Apple Microsoft GoPro Sonos
DJI Samsung Electronics HTC Sony
Google Xiaomi LG Electronics Vuzix
Canon LG Innotek Alps Electric Kanematsu

GoPro Nikon Chicony Lite-On
Cameras and Hikvision Ricoh Dahua Technology Q-Tech
lenses Konica Minolta Sony Fujifilm Samsung Electro-Mechanics
Largan Precision Holitech Technology Sunny Optical
Analog Devices Rockwell Automation AAC Technologies Libelium

Cognex Samsung Electronics AMS Link Labs
GE Schneider Electric Bosch Murata
Sensors & Honeywell Sensata Continental Nippon Ceramic
microcontrollers Infineon Siemens Denso Panasonic
Keyence STMicroelectronics Goertek Renesas
Microchip TDK HollySys Rohm
NXP Texas Instruments Knowles TE Connectivity
AMD Nvidia Ambarella STMicroelectronics

Apple Qualcomm MediaTek Tesla
Microprocessors
Arm (Softbank) Samsung Electronics Nvidia Toshiba
Broadcom Texas Instruments Qorvo Tsinghua Unigroup
Intel TSMC Skyworks Xilinx
Source: GlobalData
Connected things
Connected things are devices, machines, or equipment embedded with processors, smart sensors, and controllers
capable of sensing and acting in conjunction with the real world and the digital world.
Examples of connected things in the consumer IoT domain include Google’s Nest thermostat (which syncs your home
heating system with your schedule to increase energy efficiency), the Amazon Echo smart speaker (which plays music,
acts as an automated home hub, and provides information on the news and weather, operated by voice command), and
connected cars (think of a Tesla, with Autopilot switched on).

Examples of connected things in the enterprise IoT market include Vuzix Blade smart glasses (a connected pair of glasses
with augmented reality functionality) or Ordr's IoT discovery sensor (which can help organizations identify IoT devices
on the network that are vulnerable to cyberattacks and data breaches).
Cameras and lens modules

Cameras and lens modules are critical components in many connected devices, from smartphones and laptops to
surveillance systems, drones, robots, and smart glasses.
These cameras and lenses are getting smaller and more powerful.
In the early years of the IoT cycle, much of the value was in microcontrollers. Now the value is moving to lens modules
and miniaturized cameras and camera modules, and the makers of 3D sensors. In December 2020, Amazon announced
Panorama Appliance, which allows organizations to add computer vision to existing on-premises smart cameras.
Hikvision, Sony, Nikon, Canon, and GoPro are amongst the leaders in this segment.
Sensors and microcontrollers

Sensors are devices that detect and respond to changes in their surrounding environment. Inputs can come from a
variety of sources such as light, temperature, motion, and pressure. Via a microcontroller, sensors can convert these
analog inputs into digital data that can be interpreted by either a human or a machine.
The most common sensor types are temperature sensors, pressure sensors, proximity sensors, optical sensors,
accelerometers, and gyroscopes. Some of the leading sensor makers in the Industrial Internet include Honeywell,
Infineon, Keyence, Rockwell Automation, and STMicroelectronics.
There is also a trend towards multiple sensor capabilities being combined into a single device. As a result, microcontroller
units (MCUs) are getting more complex. MCU leaders include NXP and Microchip.
Many sensors – especially accelerometers, heat and humidity components, pressure components, cameras, and
microphones – adopt complex micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). In the automotive industry, which is pushing
ahead faster than most, the leaders include STMicroelectronics, Renesas, Infineon, and Texas Instruments.
Microprocessors
Chip designs are becoming more sophisticated and complex.
In the cloud data centers where IoT data is processed, there is a trend towards high-end processors which can handle
vast datasets. Intel was once dominant in this space, but several chip designers are invading Intel’s data center
dominance. They include Nvidia, Arm, and AMD.
Arm’s designs are also the leading microprocessor in wirelessly connected devices that require low power consumption.
As edge computing becomes a reality, connected devices may incorporate embedded mini-data centers of their own.
This requires low-power chips with substantial processing power. Many chip designers are gunning for this market,
including Intel, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Arm, Apple, Samsung Electronics, AMD, and Broadcom.

Connectivity layer
There are four groups of players in the connectivity layer. Makers of edge infrastructure devices, like Cisco, provide
routers and gateways that act as the first entry point into a data network. Internet and cloud infrastructure providers
like Amazon Web Services (AWS) provide the back-end systems which power IoT. Networking equipment makers such
as Huawei, Cisco, and Juniper provide the switches and routers that transfer streamed data around data centers where
it can be analyzed. Telecom operators and other service providers offer connectivity over fixed and wireless connections,
including 5G and Wi-Fi networks.

Connectivity layer: leaders and challengers
Connectivity layer Leaders Challengers
Cisco HPE Alibaba Juniper Networks

Edge Dell Technologies Huawei Amazon Microsoft
infrastructure Fujitsu Inspur Ericsson Nokia
Hitachi Vantara Lenovo Google Nvidia
IBM Schneider Electric
Alibaba IBM Akamai F5 Networks

Cloud Amazon Microsoft Cisco Rackspace Technologies
infrastructure
Google Oracle Equinix Tencent
Arista Networks HPE Accton Netgear

Broadcom Huawei Arista Networks Nokia
Ciena IBM Celestica Nutanix
Networking
equipment Cisco Intel Citrix Systems Quanta Cloud Technology
Dell Technologies VMware Extreme Networks Samsung Electronics
Ericsson Juniper Networks Inspur Ubiquiti
Lenovo ZTE
AT&T SingTel Bharti Airtel KDDI

Deutsche Telekom SK Telekom BT Group KT
Telecom
Lumen TechnologiesTelefónica China Mobile Rakuten
networks
NTT Verizon China Telecom Softbank
Orange Vodafone China Unicom Tata Communications
Comcast Telstra
Source: GlobalData
Edge infrastructure
Edge computing can help reduce latency. Establishing IT deployments for cloud-based services in edge data centers in
localized areas brings IT resources closer to end-users and devices.
Edge data centers will typically be located at the edge of a network, with connections back to a centralized cloud. An
edge data center is a self-functioning data center that holds localized IT deployments for cloud services, with compute,
storage, and analytics resources for application processing and data caching. Edge data centers use the same power,
cooling, connectivity, and security features found in a centralized data center but on a smaller scale.
Edge data center infrastructure refers to the equipment used to create the environment for edge data centers to
operate. That includes converged infrastructure appliances for the edge, integrating compute, storage, and management

software into a single appliance. Other infrastructure comprises micro data centers, which include power and cooling
equipment and are plug-and-play solutions.
The leaders in edge data infrastructure are Dell, Cisco, Inspur, HPE, Huawei, Schneider Electric, Lenovo, Fujitsu, and
Hitachi Vantara. The challengers are Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, Ericsson, IBM, Juniper, Alibaba, and Nokia.
Amazon and Microsoft are only challengers because, as cloud service providers, their biggest advantage in edge
computing will be to provide their cloud service offerings closer to the edge. They already offer infrastructures, such as
Azure Stack Edge and the AWS Snow family of edge appliances, and they will be leaders in edge services. Still, their edge
infrastructure offerings are currently challengers in a market dominated by large infrastructure vendors.
Cloud infrastructure
Manufacturers that want to connect their products to the internet and cloud services have two options. They can do all
the hard work themselves by setting up their servers, writing their application programming interfaces (APIs), and
building their apps. Or they can go to suppliers who offer infrastructure as a service. AWS, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud,
and Google Cloud are the big providers.
Several smaller players have sprung up, catering specifically to IoT. Examples include Thingsquare, Particle, Oxagile, R-
Style Lab, and Ayla Networks. These companies help manufacturers build mobile apps for their connected devices,
integrate them into their back-office systems, and provide cloud-based services to host all or part of the solution.
Networking equipment
The networking equipment stack within a typical data center includes a range of communications equipment from data
center interconnect gear to switches, routers, servers, storage area networks (SANs), and wireless networking (WLAN)
equipment.
In a data center environment, switches create a network while routers connect networks.
Traditionally, switches, routers, and other networking gear in data centers were based on a hardware-based global
networking standard called internet protocol (IP).
Cisco is one of the global leaders and a key supplier of switches and routers. The era of IP networking has been, to a large
extent, defined by Cisco. Now IP networking technology is giving way to another technology cycle, SDN. SDN is hugely
disruptive because it allows software – rather than hardware – to control the network path along which data packets
flow.
By replacing proprietary networking hardware with open hardware standards and open APIs, SDN makes data network
architectures simpler, cheaper, and more efficient to build and run. It moves the intelligence out of networking hardware
(e.g., switches and routers) into software, allowing industry outsiders to program the telecom network to run their own
network applications.
As the market has transitioned from IP networks to SDN, the traditional networking equipment vendors have been forced
to embrace SDN technology. Cisco, Nokia, Ericsson, Juniper, Huawei, and Arista Networks have done so successfully to
remain the leading network infrastructure providers today, all offering their versions of software defined servers,
storage, and networking equipment.
Telecom networks
With the advent of IoT, telecom operators have transitioned from mere connectivity providers to IoT solution providers,
offering services and assets that extend way beyond the core connectivity layer. In the past five years, they have woken
up to the fact that IoT represents more than simply the interconnection of machines and that the provision of basic data
connectivity services is likely to be the least profitable element of the overall solution.
Some telecom operators, including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica, Orange, Verizon, and Vodafone, are investing
heavily in proprietary control systems specially designed for the automated home, the connected car, or the Industrial

Internet. Others, such as China Telecom and Lumen Technologies, are investing heavily in the cloud infrastructure
needed to support IoT growth.
Some of the world's largest carriers are moving quickly to establish their roles in the emerging IoT ecosystem and
establish a first-mover advantage. AT&T has been working to integrate Cisco's cloud-based smart cities platform into
select AT&T smart cities solutions. Vodafone has vigorously promoted the Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) across
several regions. NB-IoT wireless technology is ideal for use cases where data transmission rates are low (i.e., a few kilobits
per second), such as in static sensor applications. Meanwhile, Deutsche Telekom signed its first NB-IoT roaming
agreements in April 2020 with Vodafone, Swisscom, and Telia Company, with more expected to follow. These deals will
accelerate NB-IoT adoption outside of China, where it is already widespread. Smart water and gas meters account for a
large part of this country's adoption.
Many current IoT deployments remain at the less complex end of the spectrum, requiring minimum bandwidth, focusing
on lower-cost and energy-efficient sensors and devices. Low-power wide-area networks (LPWA) provide wireless
connectivity designed to allow long-range communications for remote devices such as sensors operated on a battery.
The full deployment of 5G is expected to facilitate use cases requiring high bandwidth and extremely low latency, such
as video streaming, augmented and virtual reality, and autonomous vehicles. Telecom operators have already been
active in the IoT market and will enhance their offerings with 5G services. Most are already offering advisory and design
services, custom dashboards, and end-to-end vertical applications, as well as IoT-specific security solutions. They are
trying to move up the IoT value chain from the connectivity layer to the data and app layers.
In the LTE-M segment, AT&T and Verizon are amongst the most active in the IoT market. LTE-M has certain advantages
over NB-IoT, primarily support for mobility (NB-IoT deployments are stationary), making it more suitable for connected
cars and applications that involve a human component. LTE-M also offers voice connectivity and supports higher
bandwidth, meaning developers can build more complex applications involving voice commands or video.
These new IoT technologies are welcomed by mobile operators, who have seen a steady decline in revenue from
traditional voice and data services, which has led to a search for the next big thing. IoT may provide some of the answers
for operators. However, despite significant hype, network operators are struggling to make much revenue from IoT and
to move up the stack from their traditional focus on connectivity. Regardless of the chosen technology, the key to really
moving that needle is ultimately about more than just technology. Developing new business models to monetize
investments is equally important.

Data layer
The data layer, shown below, highlights how information is collected, processed, integrated, analyzed, and utilized in an
IoT environment.

Data layer: leaders and challengers
Data layer Leaders Challengers
Alteryx Intel Armis McAfee

Broadcom Oracle Check Point Software Okta
Data governance Cisco Palo Alto Networks CrowdStrike Palantir
and security Dataiku Qualcomm Darktrace Securonix
Fortinet SAP FireEye Trend Micro
IBM Splunk Informatica Vdoo
IBM Salesforce Arcadia Data MicroStrategy

Infor SAP Datameer OpenText
Business
Microsoft SAS Domo Pyramid Analytics
intelligence
Oracle ThoughtSpot Exago Rapid Insight
Qlik TIBCO Kyvos Sisense
Amazon KNIME Arcadia Data Infosys

Dataiku Microsoft Baidu Leadspace
FICO Oracle BigPanda RapidMiner
Data analysis
Google Salesforce DataRobot Rstudio
IBM SAS Dundas TCS
Infor TIBCO InetSoft Wipro
Amazon MarkLogic Altibase Nutanix

Cloudera Microsoft Couchbase Percona
Data storage DataStax Oracle Fujitsu PostgreSQL
Dell Technologies SAP MapR (HPE) Pure Storage
Google Scality MongoDB Redis Labs
IBM Teradata NetApp VoltDB
Amazon Microsoft Attivio MapR (HPE)

Baidu Nvidia BMC Software MarkLogic
Data processing Cloudera Oracle Dataiku Nvidia
Google RapidMiner DataStax Panoply
IBM SAS DataTorrent Simility (PayPal)
Informatica TIBCO EnterpriseDB Software AG
Amazon Microsoft Actifio Exasol

Data Cloudera Oracle DataVirtuality IBM
aggregation Google SAP Delphix Information Builders
Informatica Snowflake Domo Progress Software
MarkLogic Teradata EnterpriseDB Qlik
Alteryx Oracle Data Virtuality Precisely

Denodo TechnologiesSAP Google Qlik
Data integration
IBM SAS HCL Technologies Salesforce
Informatica Talend Hitachi Software AG
Microsoft TIBCO Keboola Workato
Source: GlobalData

As the IoT grows, sensors will pop up everywhere, resulting in a massive increase in the amount of data collected. In
some instances, the sheer volume of data collected at the edge of the network will make it infeasible to transport it to a
central hub, so it will have to be processed at the edge. However, for most connected things, the processing power will
be limited (to reduce cost and prolong battery life), which will make it necessary to do all the data processing in the
cloud.
Below we look at the seven key technologies in the data layer.
Data governance and security

An IoT system's dependence on data has made the whole ecosystem vulnerable to data breaches. If a cyberattack hits
your PC, it is a nuisance, but if your connected car suffers a cyberattack, it could kill you. Securing the IoT requires a
multi-layered approach. Security begins with the design of the devices and the choices that engineers make when
developing their IoT products. The intermediate gateways and routers will also represent a potential point of attack. The
central servers, which will contain the bulk of the most valuable data, will also need to be effectively secured.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses had no choice but to ask their employees to work from home. The
controls around data governance and security inevitably weakened. Consequently, there was an unprecedented rise in
brute-force attacks, zero-day attacks, and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, all of which aimed to exploit these
new vulnerabilities. Due to their always-connected nature, IoT systems are particularly vulnerable to data hacks.
Data governance and security expenditure will rise as IoT takes off. The main areas of interest are likely to be unified
threat management, endpoint security, and network security. Leaders in these areas include Palo Alto Networks, Trend
Micro, Fortinet, Check Point Software, and FireEye.
Business intelligence
BI is a set of technologies, processes, architecture, and methodologies that convert raw data into actionable insights that
drive management decisions. The techniques involved in BI include data visualization and data discovery.
Data visualization uses a visual representation to improve understanding of complex and unstructured data, while data
discovery enables users to discern actionable patterns through advanced analytics. IBM, Microsoft, Qlik, SAP, and Oracle
are some of the leaders that offer comprehensive BI solutions.
Data analysis
Data analysis involves evaluating data using statistical and analytical techniques to derive insights that can be useful for
business decision-making.
Some of the tools used in data analysis include data mining, which is a combination of preprocessing, extraction, and
evaluation of data; predictive analysis, which uses current and historical data to predict future trends; and AI
frameworks, which use machine learning techniques to draw conclusions from data without human intervention.
FICO Analytics, Dataiku, KNIME, Oracle, Microsoft, and Google are some of the leading companies in this category.
Data storage
One of the key components of big data management within IoT systems is collecting and managing large data sets to
enable real-time analytics. The objective behind storing data in the cloud or on-premises is to structure data so that it
can be easily retrieved and analyzed. The data is generally stored in a variety of forms, including distributed file systems
(which store files in one or more servers while providing controlled access to users); relational databases (which store
data in tabular form that depicts the relationship between data sets); and non-relational databases (which store files
without showing the linkage between data sets).
Leaders in the data storage category include AWS' Kinesis, Google's Cloud Dataflow service, and Microsoft's Azure
Intelligent Systems Service. Many telecom operators and data center operators also offer storage solutions that are
increasingly tailored to IoT workloads.

Data processing
Data processing transforms raw data into useful information through batch or stream processing (batch processing deals
with non-continuous data, while stream processing deals with continuous data). It increasingly involves using machine
learning algorithms that can automate the entire process to get the desired information in the form of graphs, charts,
tables, images, and so on. Sequential query language (SQL) execution is also a widely used method for processing data,
particularly retrieving, or altering existing data. The leaders in this segment include Amazon, Google, Cloudera, Software
AG, and SAS.
Data aggregation
Data aggregation is summarizing the data in a presentable format that can aid statistical analysis. The components of
data aggregation are data warehousing and data replication. The former involves constructing a data repository by
searching and gathering data from disparate sources to support analysis-based decision-making, while the latter is the
process where the data is stored in multiple locations to improve accessibility. Organizations use these solutions to
eliminate data duplication and to reveal hidden trends and insights. Amazon, Cloudera, and Snowflake are some of the
leaders in this category.
Data integration
The data integration category is responsible for integrating data from various streams. As the technologies needed to
manage IoT data are disparate, companies require data integration tools to pull them together. These tools typically use
ETL (extract, load, transform) technology to copy data from multiple sources and place it into a destination system. Data
is taken from one source (extract), converted into a form that can be analyzed (transform), and moved into a data
warehouse or other system (load).
The leaders in this category include companies like Alteryx, Informatica, and TIBCO. Driven by the general shift towards
cloud services, providers such as Informatica, IBM, and Oracle offer integration platform as a service (iPaaS) tools that
connect software applications deployed in different environments.

App layer
The app layer provides consumers and enterprises the control systems they need to track and monitor connected
devices. This layer is likely to become the most profitable segment of the IoT value chain. So far, manufacturers of
industrial, medical, and automotive products have had a direct relationship with their customers because they have had
total control of the production process and after-sales service. However, as pressure mounts to connect their machines
to the internet, they risk losing control to a technology company that may seek to act as a gatekeeper to its after-sales
services, weakening the manufacturer’s relationship with its customers.

App layer: leaders and challengers
Leaders Challengers
App layer
Apple Tesla Alibaba LG Electronics

Consumer Amazon Tencent Baidu Rokid
apps Google Samsung Electronics Didi Chuxing Sonos
DJI Sony
Garmin Uber
Huawei Xiaomi
Apps
Lenovo Yandex
Alibaba Microsoft Bentley Systems PTC

Amazon Oracle Bosch Schneider Electric
Enterprise Cisco Salesforce Dassault Systèmes Siemens
apps
Google SAP Dell Technologies Software AG
IBM Tesla GE Splunk
Huawei Vuzix
Northrop Grumman
Apple Tencent Alibaba Huawei

Consumer
platforms Google Tesla Amazon Samsung Electronics
App Baidu Xiaomi
enablement
platforms ABB IBM BAE Systems Mobvoi
Accenture Microsoft Bosch Northrop Grumman
Enterprise
Amazon Oracle C3.ai Rockwell Automation
platforms
Cisco PTC GE Digital Samsung SDS
Huawei SAP Hitachi Schneider Electric
Honeywell Siemens
iFlytek Splunk
Lockheed Martin Thales
Source: GlobalData
We split the app layer into two parts: the apps themselves and the platforms on which these apps run.
Apps
Apps help users track and control IoT devices and interpret the data that they generate.
In consumer IoT, the main connected devices are smartphones, automated home appliances, connected cars, and
wearable technology. For smartphones, the leading apps are created by Apple, Google, Samsung Electronics, and

Tencent. In connected cars, Tesla is the market leader. In automated home and wearable tech, Amazon and Google are
dominant.
In the enterprise IoT segment, the leading IoT apps come from Amazon, Alibaba, Microsoft, Google, and IBM, with Oracle,
SAP, and Salesforce close behind.
App enablement platforms

The platforms segment of the IoT app layer includes app enablement platforms (AEP). This is a form of PaaS meant for
developers to deploy an IoT application or service at scale. Many consumer AEPs are increasingly voice-controlled.
In the consumer IoT market, Apple's App Store is the leader and is strengthened by Apple’s Siri conversational platform.
Amazon and Google also offer their own conversational platforms, Alexa and Assistant. Google has incorporated more
than a million default actions in Assistant, allowing developers to integrate smartphone-like features such as smart
suggestions on smartwatches. Amazon's Alexa is available on both its own hardware and a growing range of devices
from Bose, Jabra, and iHome, among others.
In the enterprise IoT segment, app enablement platforms can be used for digital twin software, for industrial control
systems or for running smart cities. Leaders include ABB, Accenture, Amazon, Cisco, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle,
PTC, and SAP.

Services layer
IoT services have become a necessary addition to the IoT value chain over the last decade. In the enterprise IoT market,
many IoT adopters lack the design, technical, integration, or data analysis skills to deliver a successful IoT
implementation. Similarly, in the consumer IoT market, users look for continuous and uninterrupted technical support
and data analysis services.

Services layer: leaders and challengers
Services layer Leaders Challengers
Alibaba Google ADT Kakao

Automated Amazon Xiaomi Alarm.com KT
home services Apple Microsoft
Baidu Naver
Control4 Samsung Electronics
Hikvision Sonos
iFlytek Xiaomi
JD.com Yandex
Audi Mix Telematics Alphabet Floow

BMW OnStar Amazon Lytx
Connected car
Cisco Tata Motors Apple Mobileye (Intel)
services
Daimler Tesla Baidu SAIC Motors
Geely Toyota Exeros Technologies Samsara
Geotab VW INRIX
Here Technologies Webfleet Solutions
Apple Samsung Electronics Facebook Plantronics

Wearable tech
Google Xiaomi Garmin Seiko Epson
services
Huawei HTC Sony
Lenovo Under Armor
Mobvoi Vuzix
Accenture GE ABB Genpact

Atos IBM Arup Mott McDonald
Industrial Bentley Systems Infosys Atkins PwC
Internet services Boeing Oracle Black & Veatch Salesforce
Bosch Schneider Electric Capgemini SAP
Cognizant Siemens DXC Technologies Wipro
Dassault Systèmes TCS Gafcon
Deloitte Tesla
Accenture Huawei Atos MiTAC

Smart city Arup IBM Black & Veatch Mott McDonald
services Ericsson McKinsey Cognizant Surbana Jurong
GE Siemens Dartktrace TCS
Google Deloitte Hitachi Wipro
Source: GlobalData

Automated home
There is a range of automated home devices, including smart speakers, smart thermostats, smart lighting, smart security,
and smart appliances (e.g., TVs, fridges, ovens, and washing machines).
These devices can connect with each other through a platform or hub, allowing users to control them either via an app
or website or by using voice commands.
The leading companies that provide services to run the automated home are Alibaba, Amazon, Google, and Xiaomi.
See Automated Home.
Connected car
Through the telematics devices connected to vehicles, millions of data points around driving behavior are generated in
areas such as braking, acceleration, vehicle status, miles traveled, and location. The connected car will increase this data
generation exponentially. Driver behavior will be the next focus, where cameras and sensors will track a driver’s
concentration, health, and well-being.
Connected cars will generate millions of data points every day that can be used to create a detailed view of each journey.
These data points are already being measured, primarily through third-party black box devices or connected apps. As
the technology develops, connected cars will also begin to measure internal data points such as driver fatigue and vehicle
wear and tear.
Some insurance policies currently require the fitment of a so-called black box to monitor driving habits. Over time, many
of these sensors will likely become incorporated into a vehicle’s sensor suite, allowing the vehicle to record driving data
and wear and tear information. Third parties may use this information to provide insurance products – smarter usage-
based insurance - or monitor a vehicle’s health and arrange service appointments. Insurance claim waiting periods, which
bring the most cost to insurers, could be reduced to as little as 30 minutes with the application of telematics.
In addition to telematics services, there are location-based services and enhanced infotainment services, such as audio
streaming or real-time traffic information (RTTI), which continue to open up opportunities for additional revenue
streams for both carmakers and suppliers alike.
Tesla is the market leader in connected car technology, but many carmakers are not too far behind. They include Audi,
BMW, Daimler, Geely, Tata Motors, Toyota, and VW. In addition, there are IoT services companies that provide
telematics services like Webfleet Solutions and Mix Telematics. Here Technologies is a leading provider of mapping
services.
See Connected Car and Autonomous Vehicles.
Wearable technology
Hearables accounted for more than 60% of the wearable tech market in 2020, according to GlobalData estimates, driven
mainly by demand for Apple AirPods and the growth of brands such as Samsung Electronics, Google, Bragi, Plantronics,
Sony, Jabra, and Nuheara. The conversational platforms through which many wearable tech IoT services are delivered
are run predominantly by Apple, Amazon, and Google.
Smartwatches accounted for 26% of the wearable tech market in 2020. The leading manufacturers – Apple, Huami,
Garmin, Samsung Electronics, and Fitbit (acquired by Google in January 2021) – all provide data analytics services based
on these connected devices.
See Wearable Technology, Hearables, Smartwatches, Smart Glasses, and Smart Clothing.
Industrial Internet
IT services have become a necessary addition to the Industrial Internet value chain. The need to integrate both IT and
operational technology (OT) will require the input of external consulting services companies, especially in the growing

use case of predictive maintenance. Accenture, Cognizant, Atos, TCS, Infosys, and IBM are likely to be among those most
in demand.
Digital twin technology has been closely associated with the Industrial Internet over the last five years. Digital twins are
digital representations of physical assets, systems, or processes. They help to detect, prevent, predict, and optimize the
physical environment using AI, real-time analytics, visualization, and simulation tools. It has taken nearly 20 years for
digital twins to mature, and though they have grown up quickly in recent years, there is a lot more growing to do.
Services is an evolving area for digital twins. Digital twins are complex to design and develop. Organizations will not have
one digital twin; they will have several. For this reason, global firms wanting to develop digital twins are likely to require
several types of services, many of which have yet to evolve fully.
We believe that a group of digital twins specialist companies will emerge to provide these services, including managed
services, systems integration, and specialist industry services, such as in the oil and gas, aerospace, and automotive
industries.
For managed services, leaders will include GE, Siemens, IBM, Dassault Systèmes, Bentley Systems, and Oracle. Other
notable providers include Accenture, Deloitte, SAP, Bosch, Atkins, and Schneider Electric. In systems integration, the
leaders are IBM, Accenture, TCS, Siemens, Bosch, and Cognizant.
There will be several leaders that emerge to supply specialist industry services. Leaders here will include some of the
following: Schneider Electric, KBR, GE, Tesla, Black & Veatch, Boeing, Siemens, and Alphabet (Waymo).
See Industrial Internet and Digital Twins.
Smart cities
The main IoT services within the smart city stack are consulting and integration services.
Cities do not have the design, technical, integration, or data analysis skills to be able to make the journey to become
smart cities on their own. There is an active market for smart city design and integration services, which stitch together
applications for smart buildings, transportation, infrastructure, and power grids.
On the integration side, the providers of these services include large players such as IBM, Siemens, and Huawei, together
with the likes of TCS, Capgemini, Wipro, and notably in Asia, MiTAC. Cisco discontinued its smart city offerings in
December 2020, citing a lack of government funding.
There are many companies on the consulting side. Although its experience in Toronto has been bruising, Google’s
experience through its Sidewalk Labs offshoot - plus its knowledge of autonomous vehicles - will give it plenty of insight
for future engagements. Others in demand will include McKinsey and Deloitte. Mott McDonald has extensive experience
in digital twins, and Arup will put its consulting engineering knowledge and experience to good use. Smart city specialists
such as Black & Veatch and, in Asia, Surbana Jurong, will also find cities eager to use their expertise. Smarter cities may
themselves start offering consulting services to others.
See Smart Cities.

Companies
In this section, GlobalData highlights publicly listed and private companies making their mark within the IoT theme.
Public companies
The table below lists some of the leading listed players associated with this theme and summarizes their competitive
position.
Company Country Competitive position in the Internet of Things theme

Alphabet US Alphabet is a leading end-to-end player in the IoT theme. Its Android operating system
(parent powers most of the world’s smartphones, and Google Play, its app store, hosts many
company of of the apps that track and control IoT devices. Through Nest, it has developed a highly
Google) advanced smart hub to control connected devices in the automated home. Its
driverless car operation, Waymo, is already a world leader. Its acquisition of Fitbit in
2021 has made it a strong contender in the wearable tech segment.
After Amazon and Microsoft, it is the third-largest player in cloud infrastructure
services, providing much of the IoT's backbone. It has positioned itself as the go-to
player for fully managed IoT services through its offering called Cloud IoT Core.
Amazon US Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world leader in cloud infrastructure as a service
(IaaS). Many companies use AWS’s cloud platforms to process the data that drives their
IoT ecosystems. It also has a range of connected devices from its family of Echo smart
speakers to Ring, its camera-operated doorbell. Many of these Amazon devices are
powered by Alexa, Amazon’s conversational platform. With the 2020 acquisition of
Zoox, Amazon became a serious contender in the fledgling autonomous vehicles
market. Also, Amazon Go stores are pioneering technology for smart, connected retail
stores. Taken together, these attributes give Amazon one of the strongest IoT
ecosystems in the world.
Apple US Like Amazon, Apple is a leading end-to-end player in the IoT theme. Its core product,
the iPhone, which accounts for around half of total revenues, makes Apple the
undisputed leader in connected devices within the IoT value chain. It processes the
data collected from its smartphones on iCloud, its in-house cloud platform. It owns iOS,
the software platform that powers the iPhone and the App Store, on which many apps
that control IoT systems sit. Its HomeKit automated home platform lets users configure
devices for their automated home using their iPhone or iPad. It is the world leader in
smartwatches by revenues. It is working on augmented reality devices, sometimes
referred to as Apple Glass AR headsets. It is also rumored to be working on an electric
car project, although it has been typically secretive on this topic.
Broadcom Singapore Broadcom is a leading maker of data center chips, with a significant presence in
communication networking chips. Broadcom’s chips are used in the data centers of
leading cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft, where capacity is growing at
double-digit rates. It is one of the leading contenders for setting a common IoT
interconnection standard. In 2018, Broadcom acquired CA Technologies for $19bn,
allowing it to reach blue-chip customers of mainframe systems. Also, in 2018, it
withdrew a $117bn bid to acquire Qualcomm after President Trump blocked the
attempt on national security grounds. In July 2020, it sold its wireless IoT connectivity
business to Synaptics for $250m to focus on core infrastructure semiconductor markets
and mission-critical software end markets.


Cisco US Cisco is the leading provider of routers and switches for data centers. In addition to
dominating the networking equipment market, it is particularly strong in the Industrial
Internet segment. It is also one of the primary influencers in several IoT standards
bodies, including the Industrial Internet Consortium and the Open Interconnect
Consortium. It is also attempting to carve a niche for itself in providing cloud
infrastructure for IoT. Cisco has strategic relationships with leading automation
companies Rockwell Automation, Honeywell, and Emerson. It is also investing heavily
in SDN technology, which once posed a threat to its proprietary hardware due to the
increased adoption of open standards. Once considered the pioneer in the smart cities
domain, Cisco closed its smart city offering (Kinetic for Cities) in 2020.
Ericsson Sweden Ericsson offers an end-to-end approach to 5G network infrastructure, though it does
rely on best-of-breed partners for a greater share of its end-to-end offerings than its
primary rivals Huawei and Nokia. Ericsson concluded that excellence in 5G radio was
the lynchpin around which its entire business is built. It was early in debuting a new
RAN portfolio in 2015 aimed at 5G evolution: the Ericsson Radio System (ERS). The 5G
software upgrades it made available across its portfolio in late 2018 kept pace with
5G’s early deployments. In 2019 it acquired Kathrein to bolster its in-house antenna
assets.
Meanwhile, the vendor has addressed 5G’s low latency requirements with a
distinguished RAN Compute offering focused on edge computing. Ericsson also has a
leading 5G mobile core offering and was early to include the (packet) core in network
slicing use cases. It is also emerging as a strong player in edge computing.
General US GE is a leader in Industrial Internet platform services. The company was the first with
Electric (GE) a cloud-based Industrial Internet platform, Predix Cloud. Built specifically for industrial
data and analytics, the platform helps manufacturers connect their devices with a
range of services, from IoT connectivity to cloud services. After shelving its digital
business's spin-off idea in late 2019, GE has focused on enhancing its IoT platform using
predictive analytics and working on edge AI capabilities. Along with the industrial
segment, GE has also developed smart city IoT offerings based on Predix for renewable
energy, water filtration, smart buildings, traffic management, and smart grid.
IBM US By virtue of its position as a leader in cloud infrastructure, big data analytics, AI, and
cybersecurity, IBM has a pivotal role in the Industrial Internet. Its IoT strategy is defined
mainly by its Watson AI system. It helps that IBM has expertise in markets such as
manufacturing, energy, and oil and gas. IBM is also influential in standards-setting. Its
fast start in AI and machine learning, courtesy of Watson, gave it a jump on its
competitors in analyzing and presenting data from different sources.
After Cisco's exit from the smart cities market, IBM’s offering is likely to gain more
prominence. Launched in 2018, IBM has upgraded Maximo, an intelligent asset
management platform for AI-driven civil infrastructure initiatives, as it aims to
strengthen its capabilities in this domain.
As IBM’s legacy businesses continue to decline, the company is betting on its big data
analytics, cloud, AI, cybersecurity, and blockchain capabilities. This strategy has
involved some notable acquisitions, including the $34bn purchase of Red Hat, a hybrid
cloud company, in 2018. In October 2020, it revealed plans to spin off its sluggish
managed infrastructure services business into a separate company.


Infineon Germany Infineon is a microcontroller and sensor technology leader and is particularly strong in
the automotive and industrial sectors. It is also enhancing its offering in cellular IoT
connectivity solutions with its OPTIGA Connect embedded SIM, a chip that enables IoT
devices to connect securely to any cellular network. It has partnered with Tata
Communications to offer this solution in more than 200 countries and territories,
leveraging Tata’s MOVE mobility and IoT platform. Tata Communications' relationships
with more than 640 mobile network operators worldwide can potentially help Infineon
get a single global connectivity agreement. By focusing on IoT technology's pain points,
such as security, interoperability, and power efficiency, Infineon is strengthening its
positioning in the devices layer of our IoT value chain.
Intel US Once the world’s largest integrated device manufacturer, Intel has lost ground to Arm
in low-power wireless connectivity, Nvidia in AI chips, and TSMC in chip manufacturing
technology.
Intel remains a leader in the standard-setting process for IoT interconnection standards
and relies on IoT to drive future chip sales. At the Intel Industrial Summit 2020, it
launched 11th Gen Intel Core processors for IoT applications that require high-speed
edge processing, computer vision, and low-latency computing. Intel is also a founding
member of the Industrial Internet Consortium and is working with AT&T, Cisco, and GE
to develop the engine room for the Industrial Internet. Intel aims to improve its IoT
partner ecosystem to target verticals like smart cities, retail, education, and healthcare.
Intel is currently investing heavily in and focusing on strengthening its in-house
manufacturing capabilities.
Microchip US Microchip is a key player in the microcontroller segment. The company makes a range
of embedded microcontrollers highly suited to IoT because they integrate multiple
application capabilities in a single device. It also offers energy monitoring solutions and
modules for long-range and low-power IoT networks and flash memory. It is one of the
front-runners in the race to set a common IoT interconnection standard.
Microsoft US Microsoft is the second largest provider of cloud infrastructure services after Amazon.
In January 2020, Microsoft released the full version of the Azure IoT platform, on which
it works closely with Rockwell Automation. Azure IoT is a collection of Microsoft-
managed cloud services connecting, monitoring, and controlling IoT assets. With its
strong positioning in all three cloud computing stacks (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS) and other
enabling technologies such as AI, AR, blockchain, and even quantum computing,
Microsoft is one of the leaders in IoT application services. To address cybersecurity
concerns, Microsoft launched its Pluton processor, a custom security chip built into
Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm processors, in November 2020. In March 2021, it launched
Azure Percept, an AI platform with hardware accelerators for AIoT services such as
computer vision, voice control, and anomaly detection.
NXP US NXP provides a wide range of chips for automotive, wireless infrastructure, lighting,
industrial, mobile, consumer and computing applications. NXP was a co-inventor of
near field communications (NFC) technology now used in Apple and Google's mobile
payment services. It is particularly good at making small chips for IoT. It is adept at
factoring usage models (successful use cases of its products and service
implementation) into sensors, actuators, control logic, data aggregation, and local
network connectivity. It then incrementally reinvents its offerings based on these use
cases. In February 2021, it launched the EdgeLock 2GO IoT service platform, keeping
edge security at the core.


Qualcomm US Qualcomm aims to dominate the connectivity layer of our IoT value chain. Its wireless
communications chips cover the broadest range of wireless technologies of any rival.
Qualcomm is strong in 4G, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. While Huawei is the world leader in
5G telecom equipment, tensions brought on by the US-China trade war could work in
Qualcomm’s favor in the market for 5G equipment.
Qualcomm is likely to be a leader in the IoT standard-setting process. In December
2020, a new services suite was announced to deliver IoT as a Service (IoTaaS) solutions
for smart cities. As part of its plan to augment its automotive processing capabilities in
infotainment systems and driver assistance, it announced the acquisition of a two-
year-old start-up, Nuvia, for $1.4bn in January 2021.
Salesforce US Originally a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform,
Salesforce has become a cloud-native leader in the wider PaaS and SaaS segments.
With its $15bn purchase of Tableau, a data visualization software company, in 2019, it
strengthened its presence in the data layer of our IoT value chain.
Samsung South Korea Along with TSMC, the company is one of the two leading contract chip manufacturers
Electronics in the world. It is also the world’s largest smartphone maker by volume of shipments.
Together, these two factors make it a leader in the device layer of our value chain. The
company has tried, on numerous occasions, to move into the app layer but has largely
failed to develop software platforms for its smartphones, TVs, and other connected
devices. Samsung Electronics is also successfully challenging Huawei, Ericsson, and
Nokia in the 5G equipment market.
SAP Germany SAP is a leader in the data and application layer of the IoT value chain. It has strong
positioning in data governance and security, data storage, data integration, and data
analysis. SAP continues to enhance its in-memory database platform (HANA) to create
a differentiated and unified architecture for its data analytics and ML capabilities. In
2019, It announced the SAP Leonardo IoT offering, a machine learning-driven platform
to help industrial customers develop their own IoT applications. However, in August
2020, SAP consolidated Leonardo IoT and its cloud platform IoT capabilities into a single
SAP Internet of Things platform. This move aims to simplify and consolidate its IoT
offering into a single product with unified pricing.
Software AG Germany Software AG is a prominent player in the enterprise application software market. Its
IoT and industry 4.0 offering is based on its Cumulocity IoT platform. With its ARIS
process management offering, Software AG focuses on one of the primary enablers of
IoT technology, namely digital twins. ARIS process management is closely integrated
within the Cumulocity IoT platform to help users design digital twin capabilities. It
focuses on providing industry-specific process analysis and modeling capabilities
concentrating on banking, education, energy and utilities, government, healthcare,
insurance, manufacturing, retail, and telecommunications.
Splunk US Splunk is a leader in analyzing machine-to-machine data. It has a strong position in
what it calls real-time operating intelligence. With its Data to Everything platform,
Splunk should maintain its leadership in the data and security analytics markets. To
augment its business insights and real-time responses, it acquired Plumbr, an
application performance monitoring (APM) company. To strengthen its security
analytics capabilities, it bought Flowmill, a cloud network observability company.
Source: GlobalData

Private companies
The table below lists some of the interesting private companies associated with this theme and summarizes their
competitive position.

Arm UK Arm-designed chips power most smartphones in the world. Their advantage over
(Softbank) Intel’s designs has always been that they are more energy-efficient, thanks to a power-
saving cortex architecture. Consequently, Arm’s chip architecture is now threatening
Intel in the data center market. In September 2020, Nvidia announced plans to acquire
Arm for $40bn, but the UK government has ordered a probe into the takeover, citing
national security and anti-competitive concerns.
Armis US Armis is considered a leader in IoT security. Its enterprise security platform discovers
Security devices on and off the network, and its risk engine analyzes endpoint behavior to
identify risks and attacks. It is known for its autonomous zero-trust architecture for IoT
devices. Though many startups are operating in this segment, what makes Armis
unique is its exponential increase (450%) in customer acquisition and resource
expansion. After a February 2021 funding round led by Brookfield Asset Management,
it was valued at $2bn.
Libelium Spain Libelium offers a modular, open-source sensor platform for IoT, enabling system
integrators to implement reliable smart cities and M2M solutions with minimum time
to market. In September 2020, it announced its plan to evolve from a sensor hardware
manufacturer to a complete IoT solution provider. As part of this transition, Libelium is
showcasing its vertical solutions such as precision agriculture, smart cities, water
management, and environmental monitoring parking space detection to rebrand itself
as an Industrial Internet provider.
Samsara US Samsara provides an open and real-time fleet management platform, including vehicle
telematics, asset tracking, and industrial process controls. As an expansion to its
offering, in January 2021, it announced a new product called Site Visibility, a cloud-
connected video management solution for remote monitoring purposes. Under its
business expansion strategy, it is partnering with various industry leaders across
different sectors. In 2020, it announced partnerships with Ford, Uber, Idelic, and RLI.
In May 2020, a consortium of investors invested $400m in Samsara, raising its valuation
to $5.4bn. In December 2020, it announced two strategic additions to the board of
directors, including the former co-founder and COO of BlackRock and former CFO of
VMware.
Sigfox France Sigfox is a leading player in IoT connectivity and asset tracking. This French wireless
network operator builds wireless networks using LPWAN technology to connect low-
power objects such as electricity meters and smartwatches, which need to
continuously emit small amounts of data. The company is now on a path to reach its
goal of 1 billion connected devices. Since 2019, it has partnered with IBM, Alps Alpine,
Michelin, and Eutelsat, among others. In April 2019, Sigfox, Michelin, and Argon
Consulting jointly launched Safecube, which provides smart tracking services to reduce
costs for businesses relying on sea freight transport. In September 2019, it partnered
with Eutelsat to launch 25 nanosatellites to enhance its IoT connectivity, starting with
four satellites in 2020-21 and 25 by 2022.
Source: GlobalData

Sector scorecards
At GlobalData, we use a scorecard approach to predict tomorrow's leading companies within each sector. Our sector
scorecards have three screens: a thematic screen, a valuation screen, and a risk screen.
IoT is a mega theme that impacts many of the 17 technology, media, and telecom (TMT) sectors we cover. This section
sets out our sector scorecards for the four sectors most impacted by the IoT theme: semiconductors, consumer
electronics, industrial automation, and application software. In some of these sector scorecards, we may show IoT sub-
themes like automated home, connected car, wearable tech, smart cities, or Industrial Internet, rather than IoT.
For a full explanation of our thematic scoring methodology, please refer to the Appendix.
Consumer electronics sector scorecard

Who's who
Who does what in the consumer electronics space?
Consumer electronics
(50 companies)
MKT CAP
Com pany Ticker Sector Country Description
(US$ M)
3D System s DDD 3D printing 2,399 USA Manufacturer of 3D printers

Acer 2353 Computers 3,723 Taiw an Manufacturer of PCs, laptops, displays and computer peripherals
Alarm .com ALRM Surveillance equipment 4,232 USA Provider of home security systems and automated home products
Alibaba BABA Internet ecosystems 610,842 China China's leading E-commerce company
Alphabet GOOGL Internet ecosystems 1,591,309 USA Internet ecosystem monetised by advertising, primarily through the Google search engine
Am azon AMZN Internet ecosystems 1,660,037 USA Ecommerce giant and cloud infrastructure leader w ith a broad-ranging internet ecosystem that includes internet TV
Apple AAPL Mobile phones 2,172,897 USA Internet ecosystem monetised by the sale of proprietary hardw are (smartphones and computers)
Asus 2357 Computers 10,389 Taiw an PC contractor - motherboards, graphic cards
Baidu BIDU Internet ecosystems 67,733 China Internet search engine w ith Chinese internet ecosystem
Blackberry BB Mobile phones 4,785 Canada Mobile handset manufacturer and corporate communications services provider
Canon 7751 Imaging equipment 31,827 Japan Provider of digital imaging solutions
Com pal 2324 Computers 3,870 Taiw an Subcontractor for notebooks
Control4 Unlisted Surveillance equipment Unlisted USA Provider of automated home products integrating music, video, lighting, temperature and security
Dell DELL Computers 77,075 USA Provider of PCs, enterprise servers, monitors, printers, storage, softw are and netw orking equipment
DJI Unlisted Drones Unlisted China Drone manufacturer
Facebook FB Social netw orks 904,740 USA Internet ecosystem monetised via advertising on social netw orks
Garm in GRMN Wearable tech 27,584 Sw itzerland Manufacturer of navigation and comms devices - esp. GPS
GoPro GPRO Wearable tech 1,660 USA Developer of w earable and mountable cameras
Honeyw ell HON Industrial automation 158,907 USA An industrial automation softw are company
HP HPQ Computers 44,341 USA Manufacturer of printers and PCs
HTC 2498 Mobile phones 1,186 Taiw an Smart phone manufacturer
Huaw ei Unlisted Mobile infrastructure equipment Unlisted China Maker of smartphones and telecom equipment
Inventec 2356 Computers 3,446 Taiw an PC subcontractor
iRobot IRBT Consumer robots 2,752 USA Manufacturer of consumer and military robots
Lenovo 992 Computers 16,462 China PC, server and smartphone manufacturer
LG Electronics 66570 Audio visual equipment 23,469 Korea Manufacturer of consumer electronics and home appliances
Logitech LOGN PC peripherals 19,679 Sw itzerland Manufacturer of personal interface products for PCs (mouse, w eb cameras, keyboards)
Magic Leap Unlisted Wearable tech Unlisted USA Manufacturer of head-mounted w earable technology
Microsoft MSFT Internet ecosystems 1,901,421 USA Softw are conglomerate
Nikon 7731 Imaging equipment 3,627 Japan Manufacturer of chip equipment, imaging solutions and microscopes
Ningbo Bird 600130 Mobile phones 388 China Mobile handset manufacturer
Nintendo 7974 Games consoles 72,920 Japan Gaming console manufacturer and games developer
Panasonic 6752 Audio visual equipment 28,543 Japan Manufacturer of home appliances, audio video, PC peripherals, and telecom equipment
Parrot PARRO Drones 199 France Manufacturer of infotainment solutions for cars, civil drones and connected objects
Philips PHIA MedTech 53,266 Netherlands Manufacturer of medical systems and lighting products (sold its TV and consumer businesses in 2013)
Quanta Com puter 2382 Computers 13,183 Taiw an Biggest notebooks subcontractor
Ricoh 7752 Imaging equipment 7,955 Japan Manufacturer of office automation equipment
Sam sung Electronics 5930 Foundry 491,374 Korea Integrated chip maker, smartphone maker and consumer electronics conglomerate
Seiko Epson 6724 Imaging equipment 6,840 Japan Manufacturer of communications equipment, printers, scanners, LCD panels, semiconductors, w atches and robots
Sharp 6753 Audio visual equipment 10,272 Japan Manufacturer of consumer and industrial electronics
Sonos SONO Audio visual equipment 4,499 USA Manufacturer of high-quality w ireless speaker systems
Sony 6758 Audio visual equipment 121,042 Japan Technology conglomerate w ith interests in TVs, smartphones, games, etc.
Stratasys SSYS 3D printing 1,273 USA Manufacturer of 3D printers
Tom Tom TOM2 Navigation devices 1,172 Netherlands GPS navigation product maker
Toshiba 6502 Industrial conglomerate 18,970 Japan Manufacturer of electronics, NAND flash, pow er generators and medical equipment
Vuzix VUZI Augmented reality 1,187 USA Manufacturer of virtual reality and augmented reality eyeglasses
Wistron 3231 Computers 3,235 Taiw an PC manufacturer
Xiaom i 1810 Mobile phones 81,929 China A consumer electronics company that makes smartphones and a host of other consumer goods.
Yuneec Unlisted Drones Unlisted China Drone manufacturer
ZTE 63 Mobile infrastructure equipment 18,667 China Manufacturer of telecom equipment and smartphones
Source: GlobalData © GlobalData

Thematic screen
Our thematic screen ranks companies based on overall leadership in the 10 themes that matter most to
their industry, generating a leading indicator of future performance.
Consumer electronics Thematic Screen
(50 companies) Weighting 10% 10% 15% 5% 5% 10% 5% 5% 25% 10% 100%
C
Virtual and
MKT CAP Artificial Digital Autom ated Wearable Autonom ous Internet of o Them atic B
Com pany Ticker Country Augm ented Geopolitics Sustainability COVID-19

(US$ M) Intelligence Media Hom e Tech Vehicles Things l Ranking
Reality
u
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 2 5 5 5 4 4 2 3 5 5 1
Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 4 5 5 5 5 4 2 2 4 5 2
Alphabet 1,591,309 GOOGL USA 5 5 4 5 4 5 2 3 4 4 3
Sony 121,042 6758 Japan 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 4 5 4 Thematic
Microsoft
Philips
1,901,421
53,267
MSFT
PHIA
USA
Netherlands
5
3
5
4
2
2
5
4
5
3
3
4
2
3
5
4
4
5
4
4
5
6
leader
6B
Alibaba 610,842 BABA China 4 5 4 4 2 4 2 2 4 3 7

Sam sung Electronics 491,375 5930 Korea 2 4 4 4 5 4 4 3 3 5 8
Baidu 67,733 BIDU China 4 5 4 4 3 5 2 1 3 4 9
Vuzix 1,187 VUZI USA 5 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 5 10
Huaw ei Unlisted Unlisted China 4 4 4 4 4 4 1 2 3 4 11
Parrot 200 PARRO France 3 3 3 4 3 4 2 3 4 4 12
Honeyw ell 158,907 HON USA 3 4 3 4 3 3 2 4 3 5 13
3D System s 2,399 DDD USA 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 4 3 14
GoPro 1,660 GPRO USA 4 3 4 4 5 3 2 3 2 4 15
Stratasys 1,273 SSYS USA 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 4 3 16
Yuneec Unlisted Unlisted China 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 3 17
DJI Unlisted Unlisted China 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 4 3 18
Facebook 904,740 FB USA 4 4 4 4 4 3 1 2 2 4 19
Nintendo 72,920 7974 Japan 2 2 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 3 20
LG Electronics 23,470 66570 Korea 4 2 4 4 2 3 3 5 2 4 21
Xiaom i 81,929 1810 China 4 3 4 4 5 4 4 1 1 4 22
Dell 77,075 DELL USA 4 4 3 3 2 3 3 4 2 4 23
Garm in 27,584 GRMN Sw itzerland 3 3 3 4 5 4 2 3 2 4 24
Blackberry 4,786 BB Canada 3 3 2 3 3 5 3 3 3 3 25
HTC 1,186 2498 Taiw an 5 3 3 4 4 3 3 3 2 3 26
Logitech 19,680 LOGN Sw itzerland 4 3 3 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 27
iRobot 2,752 IRBT USA 3 4 3 5 3 3 3 2 2 4 28 7B
Lenovo 16,463 992 China 4 4 2 3 4 3 2 4 2 4 29

Magic Leap Unlisted Unlisted USA 4 4 3 3 1 3 3 3 2 4 30
Control4 Unlisted Unlisted USA 2 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 2 4 31
Seiko Epson 6,840 6724 Japan 3 4 3 3 4 3 3 3 2 3 32
ZTE 18,667 63 China 3 3 4 4 2 3 1 2 2 4 33
Sonos 4,500 SONO USA 3 2 4 4 3 2 2 4 2 4 34
Tom Tom 1,173 TOM2 Netherlands 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 4 35
Panasonic 28,544 6752 Japan 3 2 2 4 3 4 3 4 2 4 36
Alarm .com 4,233 ALRM USA 2 3 3 5 3 3 2 3 2 4 37
Com pal 3,871 2324 Taiw an 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 4 38
HP 44,342 HPQ USA 3 2 2 3 4 3 2 4 2 4 39
Wistron 3,236 3231 Taiw an 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 1 4 40
Quanta Com puter 13,183 2382 Taiw an 3 3 3 4 3 3 2 3 1 4 41
Nikon 3,628 7731 Japan 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 1 3 42
Inventec 3,446 2356 Taiw an 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 1 4 43
Toshiba 18,970 6502 Japan 3 3 2 4 4 3 2 3 1 4 44
Ricoh 7,956 7752 Japan 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 45
389 600130 China 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 3 46
Ningbo Bird
Asus 10,390 2357 Taiw an 3 3 2 4 2 3 2 3 1 4 47
Thematic
Acer
Canon
3,724
31,828
2353
7751
Taiw an
Japan
2
2
3
3
2
3
4
3
2
1
3
3
3
4
4
3
1
1
4
3
48
49
laggard
Sharp 10,272 6753 Japan 3 3 2 4 3 3 2 3 1 3 50
Key: 1 (red) implies this technology theme will have a negative impact on earnings over the next 12 months; 3 (amber) implies a neutral impact; and
5 (green) a positive impact. See Appendix for an explanation of our research methodology.

Valuation screen
Our valuation screen ranks our universe of companies within a sector based on selected valuation
metrics.
Consumer electronics Valuation Screen
(50 companies) Weighting 25% 20% 15% 20% 20% 100%
C
MKT CAP o Valuation
Com pany Ticker Country EV/EBITDA EV/Sales Div yield % P/E FCF yield %
(US$ M) l Ranking
u 5B
Com pal 3,870 2324 Taiw an 8.0 0.1 4.8 11.6 6.1 1
Acer 3,723 2353 Taiw an 6.5 0.2 2.2 17.3 25.6 2
Quanta Com puter 13,183 2382 Taiw an 8.1 0.3 4.0 14.5 18.2 3
LG Electronics 23,469 66570 Korea 5.7 0.5 0.9 13.4 5.9 4 Cheap
Seiko Epson 6,840 6724 Japan 6.0 0.7 2.9 24.1 10.4 5
Lenovo 16,462 992 China 8.1 0.4 2.7 22.9 7.6 6
Panasonic 28,543 6752 Japan 5.4 0.5 2.2 13.8 2.7 7
HP 44,341 HPQ USA 10.8 0.8 2.2 15.6 8.4 8
Sony 121,042 6758 Japan 7.8 1.2 0.5 11.3 6.3 9
Wistron 3,235 3231 Taiw an 6.2 0.2 6.3 10.4 -23.2 10
Inventec 3,446 2356 Taiw an 14.1 0.2 4.8 12.8 1.8 11
Ricoh 7,955 7752 Japan 4.3 0.4 2.2 21.9 0.3 12
Asus 10,389 2357 Taiw an 8.2 0.6 3.6 10.9 -1.6 13
Sam sung Electronics 491,374 5930 Korea 6.8 1.9 1.8 21.1 4.4 14
Canon 31,827 7751 Japan 10.8 1.2 3.7 41.7 4.9 15
Nikon 3,627 7731 Japan 5.1 0.4 6.0 51.4 -2.3 16
Logitech 19,679 LOGN Sw itzerland 14.6 3.4 0.7 20.8 7.0 17
Dell 77,075 DELL USA 11.1 1.2 23.7 12.1 18
iRobot 2,752 IRBT USA 12.5 1.6 18.7 7.3 19
ZTE 18,667 63 China 16.5 1.3 2.2 28.2 3.1 20
Baidu 67,733 BIDU China 9.9 3.4 19.5 4.3 21 7B
Control4 Unlisted Unlisted USA 17.8 2.0 14.5 4.5 22

Philips 53,266 PHIA Netherlands 15.2 2.4 36.9 4.0 23
Nintendo 72,920 7974 Japan 18.6 5.2 1.4 30.8 4.2 24
Garm in 27,584 GRMN Sw itzerland 21.8 6.1 1.6 27.8 3.4 25
Xiaom i 81,929 1810 China 17.6 1.8 26.0 3.6 26
Honeyw ell 158,907 HON USA 23.7 5.1 1.6 33.3 3.3 27
Toshiba 18,970 6502 Japan 9.8 0.6 1.1 -18.1 -13.4 28
Sharp 10,272 6753 Japan 15.8 0.7 1.3 53.5 -2.3 29
Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 28.4 8.0 0.6 37.8 3.4 30
Microsoft 1,901,421 MSFT USA 28.0 12.8 0.8 42.9 2.4 31
Alibaba 610,842 BABA China 31.5 7.5 26.4 3.4 32
Facebook 904,740 FB USA 21.3 9.8 31.0 2.6 33
Ningbo Bird 388 600130 China 61.1 3.7 90.0 0.5 34
GoPro 1,660 GPRO USA -87.5 1.7 -24.9 5.3 35
Alphabet 1,591,309 GOOGL USA 26.8 8.1 39.5 2.7 36
Sonos 4,499 SONO USA 447.9 3.1 -223.7 2.9 37
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 33.8 4.2 77.8 1.6 38
Alarm .com 4,232 ALRM USA 48.0 6.6 54.4 1.9 39
Tom Tom 1,172 TOM2 Netherlands -302.5 1.2 -3.7 -2.7 40
Parrot 199 PARRO France -1.8 0.6 -5.6 -18.8 41
Stratasys 1,273 SSYS USA -2.4 1.9 -2.9 -0.1 42 Expensive
Blackberry 4,785 BB Canada -5.2 5.3 -4.3 0.8 43
3D System s 2,399 DDD USA -31.7 4.2 -16.0 -1.4 44
HTC 1,186 2498 Taiw an -1.4 1.4 -5.6 -23.3 45
Vuzix 1,187 VUZI USA -75.8 99.4 -66.1 -1.3 46
DJI Unlisted Unlisted China 47
Huaw ei Unlisted Unlisted China 48
Magic Leap Unlisted Unlisted USA 49
Yuneec Unlisted Unlisted China 50
Median 9.0 1.4 0.2 18.0 2.8
Mean 10.9 4.5 1.2 13.5 1.9
Key: Green denotes that the company is cheap (15% more attractively priced than the median value for the sector) relative to its global peers; amber
denotes it is within 15% of the sector median value; and red denotes that it is expensive relative to its global peers. Private companies are shown at
the bottom of these rankings by default because they do not have a publicly listed market price. See Appendix for an explanation of our research
methodology.

Risk screen
Our risk screen ranks companies within a particular sector based on overall investment risk.
Consumer electronics Risk Screen
(50 companies) Weighting 20% 25% 25% 30% 100%
C
MKT CAP Corporate o Risk
Com pany Ticker Country Accounting Industry Political
(US$ M) Governance l Ranking
5B
u
Microsoft 1,901,421 MSFT USA 4 5 4 4 1
HP 44,341 HPQ USA 4 4 2 5 2
Alphabet 1,591,309 GOOGL USA 2 4 5 3 3
Low risk
Philips 53,266 PHIA Netherlands 4 3 3 4 4
Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 4 3 4 3 5
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 2 4 4 3 6
Logitech 19,679 LOGN Sw itzerland 3 3 3 4 7
3D System s 2,399 DDD USA 3 2 4 4 8
Stratasys 1,273 SSYS USA 3 2 5 3 9
Honeyw ell 158,907 HON USA 4 3 3 3 10
Sony 121,042 6758 Japan 4 2 4 3 11
GoPro 1,660 GPRO USA 2 3 2 5 12
Alarm .com 4,232 ALRM USA 2 3 4 3 13
iRobot 2,752 IRBT USA 2 3 4 3 14
Control4 Unlisted Unlisted USA 2 3 4 3 15
DJI Unlisted Unlisted China 2 2 5 3 16
Blackberry 4,785 BB Canada 4 2 2 4 17
Tom Tom 1,172 TOM2 Netherlands 4 2 2 4 18 7B
Lenovo 16,462 992 China 1 3 3 4 19

Garm in 27,584 GRMN Sw itzerland 3 2 2 4 20
Vuzix 1,187 VUZI USA 2 2 4 3 21
Yuneec Unlisted Unlisted China 2 2 4 3 22
Parrot 199 PARRO France 3 3 2 3 23
Sam sung Electronics 491,374 5930 Korea 2 3 2 3 24
Dell 77,075 DELL USA 2 2 3 3 25
Seiko Epson 6,840 6724 Japan 2 2 3 3 26
Nintendo 72,920 7974 Japan 3 2 2 3 27
Canon 31,827 7751 Japan 3 2 2 3 28
Asus 10,389 2357 Taiw an 2 3 3 2 29
Com pal 3,870 2324 Taiw an 2 3 3 2 30
Acer 3,723 2353 Taiw an 2 3 3 2 31
Inventec 3,446 2356 Taiw an 2 3 3 2 32
HTC 1,186 2498 Taiw an 2 3 3 2 33
ZTE 18,667 63 China 1 2 2 4 34
Ningbo Bird 388 600130 China 1 2 3 3 35
Magic Leap Unlisted Unlisted USA 1 1 4 3 36
Sharp 10,272 6753 Japan 2 2 2 3 37
Ricoh 7,955 7752 Japan 2 2 2 3 38
Nikon 3,627 7731 Japan 2 2 2 3 39
Facebook 904,740 FB USA 2 4 1 2 40
Wistron 3,235 3231 Taiw an 2 2 3 2 41
Panasonic 28,543 6752 Japan 3 2 2 2 42
Sonos 4,499 SONO USA 3 3 1 2 43
Huaw ei Unlisted Unlisted China 2 3 3 1 44
Xiaom i 81,929 1810 China 1 2 2 3 45
Quanta Com puter 13,183 2382 Taiw an 2 2 2 2 46
High risk
Baidu 67,733 BIDU China 2 2 3 1 47
Toshiba 18,970 6502 Japan 1 1 2 2 48
Alibaba 610,842 BABA China 1 1 3 1 49
LG Electronics 23,469 66570 Korea 1 1 3 1 50
Key: Green denotes low risk; amber denotes medium risk; red denotes high risk. See Appendix for an explanation of our research methodology.

Semiconductor sector scorecard

Who's who
Who does what in the semiconductor space?
Semiconductors
(56 companies)
MKT CAP
(US$ M)
Aixtron AIXA Chip equipment 2,292 Germany Manufacturer of metal organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) equipment
Am barella AMBA Imaging chips 3,360 USA Manufacturer of video compression and image processing semiconductors used in digital cameras and smartphones.
AMD AMD GPUs 95,755 USA Developer of x86 microprocessors and graphics chips
AMS AMS Foundry 5,533 Austria Designs and manufactures high performance analogue chips, focusing on sensors, MEMS, NFC and ultra-low pow er.
Analog Devices ADI Mixed signal chips 58,012 USA Designer of analogue, mixed-signal, and DSP integrated circuits
Applied Materials AMAT Chip equipment 122,003 USA Manufacturer of w afer fabrication and semiconductor equipment
ASML Holding ASML Chip equipment 277,515 Netherlands Manufacturer of lithography equipment used to print circuits on silicon w afers to make chips.
Broadcom AVGO Wireless chips 184,789 USA Fabless digital communications chip designer (Broadcom merged w ith Avago)
Cadence Design System s CDNS Computer aided design 35,910 USA CAD softw are developer w ith focus on chip design
Cam bricon 688256 AI chips 6,609 China Designer of AI chips
Cirrus Logic CRUS Mixed signal chips 4,446 USA Manufacturer of linear and mixed-signal processors
Dialog DLG Pow er management chips 6,027 UK Chip Manufacturer specialising in pow er management for mobile devices
Diodes DIOD Pow er management chips 3,325 USA Analogue chip designer for consumer electronics
Graphcore Unlisted AI chips Unlisted UK Designer of AI chips
Him ax HIMX Imaging chips 2,234 Taiw an Chip designer that focuses on touch controllers, TFT-LCD and AMOLED drivers
IBM IBM IT Services 129,971 USA Technology conglomerate
Infineon IFX Auto grade chips 51,622 Germany Manufacturer of integrated mixed signal memory and logic chips for car, comms and industrial markets
Intel INTC Foundry 232,871 USA World's largest integrated digital chip maker
LAM Research LRCX Chip equipment 89,927 USA Wafer fabrication equipment maker
Marvell MRVL Wireless chips 37,126 USA Chip designer for digital broadband comms - IP and storage chips
Maxim MXIM Mixed signal chips 25,918 USA Analogue and mixed signal IC designer
MediaTek 2454 Wireless chips 60,305 Taiw an Chip designer focused on low -end digital multi-media and w ireless communications
Melexis MELE MEMS sensors 4,279 Belgium Manufacturer of advanced chips and sensors for the autos industry
Microchip MCHP Microcontrollers 40,321 USA Manufacturer of embedded microcontrollers
Micron MU Memory chips 96,419 USA Manufacturer of integrated DRAM and flash memory
Monolithic Pow er System s MPWR Pow er management chips 15,678 USA Fabless designer of analogue integrated circuits
Nanya Tech 2408 Memory chips 9,471 Taiw an Manufacturer of DRAM memory
Nvidia NVDA GPUs 368,756 USA Designer of digital graphics, video and multi-media processors
NXP NXPI Wireless chips 54,576 Netherlands Designer of chips for mobile, consumer electronics. Spun out of Philip in 2006.
On Sem iconductor ON Pow er management chips 16,495 USA Pow er management chip designer
Qorvo QRVO Wireless chips 20,860 USA Manufacturer of RF chips (formerly RF Micro Devices and Triquint Semi)
Qualcom m QCOM Wireless chips 155,494 USA Manufacturer of chips and licensor of CDMA chip technology
Renesas 6723 Microcontrollers 19,700 Japan A chip designer selling primarily to Japanese carmakers.
Rohm 6963 MEMS sensors 10,018 Japan Chip designer and foundry focused on MEMS sensors, analogue ICs, logic ICs, memory Ics and ASICs.
Sam sung Electronics 5930 Foundry 491,374 Korea Integrated chip maker, smartphone maker and consumer electronics conglomerate
Silicon Labs SLAB Mixed signal chips 6,050 USA Chip designer focused on analogue intensive mixed signal processors
Silicon Motion SIMO Memory chips 2,396 Taiw an Processors for NAND flash (63%), USB (20%) and graphics (15%)
SK Hynix 660 Memory chips 84,154 Korea Memory chip maker focused on DRAM, SRAM, Flash, MCP
Skyw orks SWKS Wireless chips 28,911 USA Chip designer for mobile comms applications - digital and analogue
SMIC 981 Foundry 34,707 China Chip foundry in China, run by Taiw anese
Softbank 9984 Telecom operator (integrated) 191,585 Japan Japanese holding company w ith investments in US telecoms and several internet companies
STMicroelectronics STM Mixed signal chips 34,011 Sw itzerland Integrated analogue chip maker
Synopsys SNPS Computer aided design 36,849 USA Design automation softw are for chip sector
Teradyne TER Chip equipment 21,348 USA Manufacturer of automatic test systems (esp. for w ireless chips). Also ow ns Universal Robots, a maker of co-bots
Tesla TSLA Car maker 647,714 USA Manufacturer of electric cars
Texas Instrum ents TXN Mixed signal chips 173,400 USA Integrated digital and analogue chip maker - also big in sensors and educational tools
Tokyo Electron 8035 Chip equipment 71,932 Japan Semiconductor and flat panel production equipment
TSMC 2330 Foundry 555,677 Taiw an World's largest chip foundry, making bespoke logic chips for companies that provide their ow n designs
UMC 2303 Foundry 23,998 Taiw an Chip foundry
Xilinx XLNX Programmable chips 30,580 USA Fabless digital chip designer - leader in programmable logic devices (allow s user to change chip functionality)

Thematic screen
Semiconductors Thematic Screen
C
MKT CAP Artificial Data Internet Industrial Autonom ous o Them atic
Com pany Ticker Country 5G M&A Geopolitics Gam ing COVID-19
(US$ M) Intelligence Centers of Things Internet Vehicles l Ranking
u B
TSMC 555,678 2330 Taiw an 5 5 5 5 4 5 3 2 5 5 1

Sam sung Electronics 491,375 5930 Korea 4 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 2
Intel
Xilinx
232,872
30,581
INTC
XLNX
USA
USA
5
4
4
5
4
3
4
5
4
5
5
4
3
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
4
Thematic
Softbank 191,585 9984 Japan 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 5 leader
6B
SK Hynix 84,154 660 Korea 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 6

Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 5 5 3 5 3 4 4 2 4 5 7
Tesla 647,715 TSLA USA 5 4 3 5 4 5 4 3 3 3 8
Nvidia 368,756 NVDA USA 5 5 3 4 4 5 3 2 5 4 9
STMicroelectronics 34,012 STM Sw itzerland 4 3 3 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 10
ASML Holding 277,515 ASML Netherlands 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 3 11
Skyw orks 28,911 SWKS USA 3 3 5 5 4 5 4 4 3 3 12
Silicon Motion 2,397 SIMO Taiw an 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 13
Nanya Tech 9,471 2408 Taiw an 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 14
Microsoft 1,901,421 MSFT USA 5 5 3 4 4 3 4 2 5 4 15
Synopsys 36,850 SNPS USA 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 16
Cadence Design System s 35,910 CDNS USA 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 4 4 17
Graphcore Unlisted Unlisted UK 5 4 3 3 3 4 3 5 3 3 18
Qualcom m 155,495 QCOM USA 4 4 5 5 4 4 4 2 3 3 19
Analog Devices 58,012 ADI USA 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 3 20
Qorvo 20,861 QRVO USA 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 4 3 3 21
Rohm 10,019 6963 Japan 3 3 3 5 5 5 4 3 4 3 22
IBM 129,972 IBM USA 5 4 3 4 5 3 5 2 3 3 24
Tokyo Electron 71,932 8035 Japan 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 25
Baidu 67,733 BIDU China 5 3 3 4 5 5 3 2 3 3 26
Renesas 19,700 6723 Japan 3 3 3 5 5 5 4 3 3 3 27
Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 5 3 4 5 3 4 1 2 4 4 28 7B

Micron 96,419 MU USA 4 5 3 4 4 4 4 2 4 3 30
Infineon 51,622 IFX Germany 4 3 3 5 5 5 3 2 3 3 31
Silicon Labs 6,051 SLAB USA 3 3 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 3 32
Melexis 4,280 MELE Belgium 4 3 3 4 4 5 4 3 3 3 33
Broadcom 184,790 AVGO USA 4 4 3 4 4 2 4 4 3 3 34
Applied Materials 122,003 AMAT USA 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 4 3 35
LAM Research 89,927 LRCX USA 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 2 4 3 36
On Sem iconductor 16,495 ON USA 3 4 3 4 4 5 4 3 3 3 37
Monolithic Pow er System s 15,678 MPWR USA 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 38
Cam bricon 6,609 688256 China 5 4 3 3 4 4 3 2 3 4 39
Texas Instrum ents 173,401 TXN USA 4 4 3 4 4 4 2 3 3 3 40
AMD 95,756 AMD USA 4 5 3 4 4 3 4 2 4 3 41
AMS 5,534 AMS Austria 3 4 3 5 3 4 5 3 3 3 42
Aixtron 2,292 AIXA Germany 3 3 3 5 5 5 4 2 3 3 43
NXP 54,577 NXPI Netherlands 4 3 3 4 4 5 4 2 3 3 44
Microchip 40,322 MCHP USA 3 4 3 4 4 3 5 3 3 3 45
Dialog 6,028 DLG UK 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 4 3 2 46
Teradyne 21,349 TER USA 4 3 3 4 4 3 5 2 3 3 47
SMIC 34,707 981 China 3 4 3 5 4 4 3 1 3 3 48
Am barella 3,360 AMBA USA 4 2 3 4 3 4 5 2 3 3 49
Cirrus Logic 4,446 CRUS USA 2 3 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 50 Thematic
MediaTek
UMC
60,306
23,999
2454
2303
Taiw an
Taiw an
3
2
4
4
3
3
3
4
3
4
3
2
4
4
2
3
4
4
3
2
51
52
laggard
Him ax 2,235 HIMX Taiw an 2 2 3 4 3 4 4 3 4 3 53
Marvell 37,126 MRVL USA 2 4 3 2 4 3 4 3 3 3 54
Maxim 25,919 MXIM USA 2 3 3 3 4 4 4 2 3 3 55
Diodes 3,325 DIOD USA 3 4 3 2 2 3 4 3 3 2 56

Valuation screen
metrics.
Semiconductors Valuation Screen
C
Net Debt
MKT CAP o Valuation
Com pany Ticker Country EV/EBITDA EV/Sales Div yield % (Cash)/ Market FCF yield %
(US$ M) l Ranking
Value %
u
Sam sung Electronics 491,374 5930 Korea 6.8 1.9 1.8 -22.9 4.4 1 5B
Nanya Tech 9,471 2408 Taiw an 9.4 3.5 1.7 -20.8 5.0 2
Rohm 10,018 6963 Japan 11.6 2.3 1.4 -31.0 3.4 3
UMC 23,998 2303 Taiw an 9.1 3.6 1.5 -12.4 5.6 4 Cheap
Intel 232,871 INTC USA 6.8 3.2 2.4 2.2 9.1 5
Silicon Motion 2,396 SIMO Taiw an 21.8 3.8 2.0 -14.5 4.1 6
Baidu 67,733 BIDU China 9.9 3.4 -37.2 4.3 7
IBM 129,971 IBM USA 15.7 2.4 4.5 36.5 11.5 8
AMS 5,533 AMS Austria 8.9 1.8 39.5 11.5 9
MediaTek 60,305 2454 Taiw an 28.4 4.7 1.0 -17.8 4.4 10
STMicroelectronics 34,011 STM Sw itzerland 13.3 3.2 0.5 -2.8 2.4 11
Teradyne 21,348 TER USA 19.3 6.5 0.3 -5.4 3.2 12
Him ax 2,234 HIMX Taiw an 27.0 2.5 -1.9 4.3 13
SK Hynix 84,154 660 Korea 6.9 3.2 0.7 0.8 1.5 14
Broadcom 184,789 AVGO USA 19.7 9.1 3.0 18.1 6.3 15
Tokyo Electron 71,932 8035 Japan 21.5 5.4 1.4 -5.3 1.1 16
Skyw orks 28,911 SWKS USA 22.2 8.3 1.1 -3.4 2.8 17
Renesas 19,700 6723 Japan 12.7 3.7 21.9 8.6 18
Cirrus Logic 4,446 CRUS USA 16.6 2.9 -18.2 19
Diodes 3,325 DIOD USA 14.7 2.9 5.3 3.4 20
TSMC 555,677 2330 Taiw an 16.8 11.3 1.7 -2.9 2.0 21 7B
Qualcom m 155,494 QCOM USA 22.1 7.4 1.9 2.4 2.8 22

Xilinx 30,580 XLNX USA 31.1 9.3 1.2 -3.7 3.5 23
Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 28.4 8.0 0.6 -3.6 3.4 24
Texas Instrum ents 173,400 TXN USA 25.2 12.0 2.0 0.1 3.2 25
NXP 54,576 NXPI Netherlands 25.6 7.0 0.8 9.8 3.6 26
Applied Materials 122,003 AMAT USA 25.7 7.1 0.6 -1.5 2.8 27
Dialog 6,027 DLG UK 25.5 4.0 -8.1 1.7 28
Micron 96,419 MU USA 10.9 4.4 -2.6 0.1 29
Alibaba 610,842 BABA China 31.5 7.5 -14.9 3.4 30
Maxim 25,918 MXIM USA 31.8 11.5 2.0 -2.4 2.8 31
On Sem iconductor 16,495 ON USA 19.4 3.6 14.6 2.4 32
Alphabet 1,591,309 GOOGL USA 26.8 8.1 -8.9 2.7 33
Melexis 4,279 MELE Belgium 28.9 6.9 1.5 0.2 2.0 34
Microsoft 1,901,421 MSFT USA 28.0 12.8 0.8 -3.5 2.4 35
Microchip 40,321 MCHP USA 26.6 9.4 0.9 22.5 3.7 36
Infineon 51,622 IFX Germany 25.3 5.4 0.8 9.5 1.7 37
Analog Devices 58,012 ADI USA 27.2 11.2 1.5 8.3 3.2 38
SMIC 34,707 981 China 21.4 8.9 -27.8 -10.4 39
Qorvo 20,860 QRVO USA 27.1 6.7 4.0 3.7 40
LAM Research 89,927 LRCX USA 30.3 8.9 0.7 -1.0 2.1 41
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 33.8 4.2 -2.2 1.6 42
Aixtron 2,292 AIXA Germany 36.9 6.1 -13.2 -2.6 43
Silicon Labs 6,050 SLAB USA 60.9 6.6 -2.7 1.9 44
Monolithic Pow er System s 15,678 MPWR USA 84.7 17.9 0.6 -3.8 1.4 45
Synopsys 36,849 SNPS USA 43.1 9.7 -3.0 1.7 46
ASML Holding 277,515 ASML Netherlands 43.7 16.1 0.5 -1.4 1.6 47
Marvell 37,126 MRVL USA 98.1 12.7 0.4 1.2 1.9 48
Cadence Design System s 35,910 CDNS USA 44.7 13.2 -2.0 2.3 49
Softbank 191,585 9984 Japan 115.8 5.3 0.3 27.1 -1.7 50
AMD 95,755 AMD USA 57.6 9.6 -2.1 0.8 51 Expensive
Nvidia 368,756 NVDA USA 64.7 21.8 0.1 -1.2 1.3 52
Am barella 3,360 AMBA USA -59.3 13.1 -13.1 0.8 53
Cam bricon 6,609 688256 China -117.6 81.6 -12.3 -0.9 54
Tesla 647,714 TSLA USA 148.6 20.3 -1.2 0.4 55
Graphcore Unlisted Unlisted UK 56
Median 25.4 6.8 0.5 -2.3 2.6
Mean 26.7 8.7 0.8 -1.9 2.7
methodology.

Risk screen
Semiconductors Risk Screen
C
u 5B

Intel 232,871 INTC USA 4 4 3 5 2
Texas Instrum ents 173,400 TXN USA 4 4 3 5 3
Qualcom m 155,494 QCOM USA 4 4 3 5 4
Low risk
Micron 96,419 MU USA 4 4 3 5 5
Analog Devices 58,012 ADI USA 4 4 3 5 6
Microchip 40,321 MCHP USA 4 4 3 5 7
Marvell 37,126 MRVL USA 4 4 3 5 8
Skyw orks 28,911 SWKS USA 4 4 3 5 9
Maxim 25,918 MXIM USA 4 4 3 5 10
Qorvo 20,860 QRVO USA 4 4 3 5 11
On Sem iconductor 16,495 ON USA 4 4 3 5 12
Monolithic Pow er System s 15,678 MPWR USA 4 4 3 5 13
Cirrus Logic 4,446 CRUS USA 4 4 3 5 14
Diodes 3,325 DIOD USA 4 4 3 5 15
Broadcom 184,789 AVGO USA 3 4 3 5 16
Nvidia 368,756 NVDA USA 4 4 2 5 17
AMD 95,755 AMD USA 4 4 2 5 18
Xilinx 30,580 XLNX USA 4 4 2 5 19 7B
NXP 54,576 NXPI Netherlands 4 3 4 4 20

AMS 5,533 AMS Austria 4 3 5 3 21
Applied Materials 122,003 AMAT USA 3 3 3 5 22
LAM Research 89,927 LRCX USA 3 3 3 5 23
Synopsys 36,849 SNPS USA 3 3 3 5 24
Cadence Design System s 35,910 CDNS USA 3 3 3 5 25
Teradyne 21,348 TER USA 3 3 3 5 26
Silicon Labs 6,050 SLAB USA 3 3 3 5 27
Dialog 6,027 DLG UK 3 3 3 5 28
Infineon 51,622 IFX Germany 4 3 3 4 30
Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 4 3 4 3 31
TSMC 555,677 2330 Taiw an 4 3 5 2 32
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 2 4 4 3 33
ASML Holding 277,515 ASML Netherlands 3 3 3 4 34
IBM 129,971 IBM USA 4 1 3 5 35
Aixtron 2,292 AIXA Germany 3 3 3 4 36
STMicroelectronics 34,011 STM Sw itzerland 4 3 3 3 37
Am barella 3,360 AMBA USA 4 3 3 3 38
Melexis 4,279 MELE Belgium 3 3 3 3 39
Rohm 10,018 6963 Japan 2 3 3 3 40
Tokyo Electron 71,932 8035 Japan 3 2 3 3 41
Tesla 647,714 TSLA USA 1 2 5 2 42
Sam sung Electronics 491,374 5930 Korea 2 3 2 3 43
Cam bricon 6,609 688256 China 2 2 3 3 44
Graphcore Unlisted Unlisted UK 2 2 3 3 45
MediaTek 60,305 2454 Taiw an 2 2 3 2 46
Renesas 19,700 6723 Japan 2 2 3 2 47
Nanya Tech 9,471 2408 Taiw an 2 2 3 2 48
Silicon Motion 2,396 SIMO Taiw an 2 2 3 2 49
Him ax 2,234 HIMX Taiw an 2 2 3 2 50
UMC 23,998 2303 Taiw an 2 2 2 2 51 High risk
Softbank 191,585 9984 Japan 1 2 2 2 53
SMIC 34,707 981 China 1 2 2 2 54
SK Hynix 84,154 660 Korea 1 2 3 1 55

Industrial automation sector scorecard

Who's who
Who does what in the industrial automation space?
Industrial automation
(50 companies)
MKT CAP
(US$ M)
ABB ABBN Industrial conglomerate 72,687 Sw itzerland Industrial conglomerate that makes robots
Accenture ACN IT Services 193,900 Ireland Management consulting and IT services house
Aveva AVV Industrial automation 14,088 UK Industrial softw are provider
Bosch Unlisted Auto parts Unlisted Germany Manufacturer of Tier 1 auto subsystems
Capgem ini CAP IT Services 31,840 France Management consulting, IT services and outsourcing house
Cisco CSCO Netw orking equipment 225,769 USA IP netw orking equipment manufacturer
Cognex CGNX Imaging equipment 13,701 USA Maker of machine vision systems
Cyberdyne 7779 Exoskeletons 772 Japan Robotics company that specialises in robotic limbs
Danaher DHR Industrial conglomerate 184,368 USA Manufacturer of medical, professional, commercial and industrial products.
Em erson Electric EMR Industrial conglomerate 57,001 USA Provider of infrastructure technologies and lifecycle services.
Ericsson ERIC B Mobile infrastructure equipment 46,756 Sw eden Wireless telecom equipment manufacturer
Fanuc 6954 Industrial robots 49,055 Japan Manufacturer of factory automation systems
GE GE Industrial conglomerate 116,755 USA Industrial conglomerate
Harm onic Drive 6324 Robotic components 6,454 Japan Manufacturers of speed reducers
Hitachi 6501 Industrial conglomerate 48,527 Japan Manufacturer of communications and electronic equipment, heavy industrial equipment and consumer electronics
HollySys Autom ation HOLI Automation softw are 829 China Producer of process, industrial, rail and subw ay, and nuclear pow er plant automation equipment
Honeyw ell HON Industrial automation 158,907 USA An industrial automation softw are company
Huaw ei Unlisted Mobile infrastructure equipment Unlisted China Maker of smartphones and telecom equipment
Intuitive Surgical ISRG Surgical robots 101,490 USA Manufacturer of surgical robotic systems
Kaw asaki Heavy 7012 Industrial robots 4,150 Japan Industrial conglomerate that makes robots
Keyence 6861 Robotic components 118,816 Japan Manufacturer of fiber optic and photoelectric sensors for robots.
KUKA KU2 Industrial robots 2,322 Germany Manufacturer of industrial machines
Mitsubishi Electric 6503 Industrial conglomerate 32,952 Japan Manufacturer of electronic and industrial equipment
Nachi Fujikoshi 6474 Robotic components 976 Japan Manufacturer of industrial robots and robot parts
NEC 6701 Fixed line infrastructure equipment 15,683 Japan Manufacturer of chips, PCs, telecom equipment and softw are
Nokia NOKIA Mobile infrastructure equipment 29,451 Finland Wireless telecom equipment manufacturer
Ocado OCDO Online retail 20,686 UK Online retailer of groceries
Om ron 6645 Robotic components 15,958 Japan Manufacturer of electronic components, equipment and systems used for factory automation.
Oracle ORCL ERP systems 231,836 USA Softw are conglomerate w ith focus on ERP databases
PTC PTC Decision management applications 15,326 USA Softw are developer focused on process lifecycle management
Rockw ell Autom ation ROK Automation softw are 31,419 USA Industrial automation pow er, control systems
Roper Technologies ROP Industrial conglomerate 46,774 USA Manufacturer of industrial equipment and components
SAP SAP ERP systems 175,361 Germany Softw are conglomerate focused on ERP systems and Big Data
Schneider Electric SU Industrial conglomerate 93,084 France Industrial conglomerate focused on pow er equipment
Seiko Epson 6724 Imaging equipment 6,840 Japan Manufacturer of communications equipment, printers, scanners, LCD panels, semiconductors, w atches and robots
Siasun Robot 300024 Industrial robots 2,294 China Manufacturer of industrial robots, service robots and personal robots.
Siem ens SIE Industrial conglomerate 149,163 Germany Industrial conglomerate
Softw are AG SOW Enterprise applications 3,204 Germany Enterprise softw are provider
Sony 6758 Audio visual equipment 121,042 Japan Technology conglomerate w ith interests in TVs, smartphones, games, etc.
Stryker SYK Surgical robots 95,987 USA Manufacturer of robotic orthopedic solutions
Tata Consultancy Services TCS IT Services 157,455 India IT services company w ith large outsourcing business
TE Connectivity TEL Electronic components (other) 45,571 Sw itzerland Maker of connectivity and sensor solutions
Teradyne TER Chip equipment 21,348 USA Manufacturer of automatic test systems (esp. for w ireless chips). Also ow ns Universal Robots, a maker of co-bots
Wipro WIPRO IT Services 38,222 India IT services company w ith large outsourcing operations
Yokogaw a Electric 6841 Industrial conglomerate 4,949 Japan Industrial automation company.

Thematic screen
Industrial automation Thematic Screen
C
Virtual and
MKT CAP Artificial Industrial Wearable Edge Future of Digital o Them atic
Com pany Ticker Country Augm ented Cybersecurity Robotics COVID-19
(US$ M) Intelligence Internet Tech com puting w ork tw ins l Ranking
Reality
u B
ABB 72,688 ABBN Sw itzerland 3 5 4 5 4 5 4 2 4 5 1

Siem ens
IBM
149,164
129,972
SIE
IBM
Germany
USA
3
3
5
5
4
4
5
5
4
3
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
4
5
4
3
4
Thematic
GE 116,756 GE USA 3 5 4 5 4 3 4 2 3 5 5 leader
6B
Rockw ell Autom ation 31,420 ROK USA 3 4 4 5 3 5 4 2 4 4 6

Cisco 225,769 CSCO USA 4 4 5 4 3 3 5 2 5 4 8
Aveva 14,088 AVV UK 4 4 5 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 9
Fanuc 49,055 6954 Japan 3 4 3 5 3 5 4 3 4 3 10
Cognex 13,701 CGNX USA 3 4 3 5 3 5 4 3 4 3 11
Schneider Electric 93,085 SU France 3 4 4 4 3 4 4 2 4 5 12
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 2 5 4 3 4 3 5 5 5 2 13
Accenture 193,901 ACN Ireland 3 4 4 4 3 3 4 3 5 4 14
Em erson Electric 57,001 EMR USA 3 4 3 5 3 3 4 3 4 4 15
Tata Consultancy Services 157,456 TCS India 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 4 3 4 16
Hitachi 48,527 6501 Japan 3 4 3 5 3 4 4 3 3 3 17
Ericsson 46,756 ERIC B Sw eden 3 4 4 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 18
Teradyne 21,349 TER USA 3 4 3 4 3 5 5 3 4 3 19
Ocado 20,686 OCDO UK 3 4 3 4 3 5 3 4 4 3 20
SAP 175,362 SAP Germany 3 4 3 4 4 5 3 2 4 4 21
Wipro 38,222 WIPRO India 3 4 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 22
Sony 121,042 6758 Japan 5 4 2 3 4 5 4 4 4 3 23
Keyence 118,817 6861 Japan 3 4 3 4 3 5 4 3 2 3 24
Capgem ini 31,841 CAP France 3 4 3 4 3 3 4 3 4 4 25
KUKA 2,322 KU2 Germany 3 4 3 4 3 5 4 2 4 3 26
Nokia 29,452 NOKIA Finland 3 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 4 4 27
7B
Seiko Epson 6,840 6724 Japan 3 4 3 4 4 4 4 2 4 3 28

Harm onic Drive 6,455 6324 Japan 3 3 3 4 3 5 4 3 4 3 29
Oracle 231,836 ORCL USA 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 30
Honeyw ell 158,907 HON USA 3 4 2 4 3 4 4 3 3 4 31
Intuitive Surgical 101,491 ISRG USA 3 4 3 3 3 5 4 3 4 3 32
Roper Technologies 46,775 ROP USA 3 4 3 4 3 4 2 3 4 3 33
Mitsubishi Electric 32,952 6503 Japan 3 3 3 4 3 4 4 3 3 4 34
Kaw asaki Heavy 4,151 7012 Japan 3 4 3 4 3 5 4 2 2 3 35
Stryker 95,988 SYK USA 3 4 3 3 2 5 4 3 4 3 36
Yokogaw a Electric 4,950 6841 Japan 3 2 3 5 3 4 4 3 2 3 38
NEC 15,684 6701 Japan 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 3 39
PTC 15,327 PTC USA 3 3 3 4 3 3 2 3 4 4 40
Bosch Unlisted Unlisted Germany 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 2 3 4 41
Cyberdyne 772 7779 Japan 3 4 3 3 3 4 4 2 4 3 42
Danaher 184,368 DHR USA 3 2 3 4 3 3 2 5 3 3 43
Siasun Robot 2,295 300024 China 3 3 2 4 3 5 4 2 3 3 44
Nachi Fujikoshi 977 6474 Japan 3 3 3 3 3 5 4 2 3 3 45
HollySys Autom ation 829 HOLI China 3 3 2 4 3 4 4 2 4 3 46
Thematic
Huaw ei
Om ron
Unlisted
15,958
Unlisted
6645
China
Japan
4
3
4
4
1
2
3
4
4
3
3
3
4
4
3
2
4
2
4
3
47
48
laggard
TE Connectivity 45,571 TEL Sw itzerland 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 49
Softw are AG 3,204 SOW Germany 3 3 1 4 3 3 3 2 2 3 50

Valuation screen
metrics.
Industrial automation Valuation Screen
C
Net Debt
MKT CAP o Valuation
Com pany Ticker Country EV/EBITDA EV/Sales Div yield % (Cash)/ Market ROCE %
(US$ M) l Ranking
Value %
u
Mitsubishi Electric 32,952 6503 Japan 7.3 0.8 2.2 -26.7 7.0 1 5B
HollySys Autom ation 829 HOLI China 3.0 0.5 1.5 -77.6 6.7 2
Ericsson 46,756 ERIC B Sw eden 10.3 1.6 1.5 -10.4 17.7 3
Seiko Epson 6,840 6724 Japan 6.0 0.7 2.9 -8.4 5.6 4 Cheap
Yokogaw a Electric 4,949 6841 Japan 12.3 1.2 1.7 -15.7 7.2 5
Cisco 225,769 CSCO USA 13.7 4.3 2.7 -7.1 19.6 6
Softw are AG 3,204 SOW Germany 14.1 2.9 2.1 -9.2 7.9 7
Hitachi 48,527 6501 Japan 7.4 0.8 1.8 0.9 6.8 8
Om ron 15,958 6645 Japan 17.5 2.3 1.0 -17.1 9.5 9
Sony 121,042 6758 Japan 7.8 1.2 0.5 -127.7 5.2 10
NEC 15,683 6701 Japan 7.6 0.7 1.1 1.0 6.7 11
Kaw asaki Heavy 4,150 7012 Japan 7.4 0.5 2.6 75.1 5.9 12
Wipro 38,222 WIPRO India 17.1 4.2 0.2 -9.0 20.5 13
Nokia 29,451 NOKIA Finland 11.2 1.0 0.6 -12.7 3.6 14
Accenture 193,900 ACN Ireland 22.4 4.2 1.0 -4.5 26.7 15
GE 116,755 GE USA 9.4 1.9 0.6 -9.8 4.9 16
Em erson Electric 57,001 EMR USA 18.3 3.6 2.1 7.3 14.6 17
Nachi Fujikoshi 976 6474 Japan 7.7 0.9 2.3 36.4 3.1 18
Teradyne 21,348 TER USA 19.3 6.5 0.3 -5.4 31.5 19
Tata Consultancy Services 157,455 TCS India 24.8 6.9 0.9 -2.9 42.8 20
Rockw ell Autom ation 31,419 ROK USA 25.2 5.2 1.5 1.1 20.8 21
7B
SAP 175,361 SAP Germany 18.1 5.6 1.3 3.7 14.5 22

Schneider Electric 93,084 SU France 19.6 3.3 1.8 4.2 8.4 23
Capgem ini 31,840 CAP France 14.9 2.0 0.9 21.8 9.4 24
Honeyw ell 158,907 HON USA 23.7 5.1 1.6 4.1 13.2 25
Oracle 231,836 ORCL USA 15.5 6.7 1.3 12.3 14.1 26
IBM 129,971 IBM USA 15.7 2.4 4.5 36.5 4.0 27
Siem ens 149,163 SIE Germany 18.9 2.7 2.6 14.4 5.6 28
ABB 72,687 ABBN Sw itzerland 31.3 2.8 2.4 -1.9 5.6 29
Fanuc 49,055 6954 Japan 30.5 8.7 0.9 -13.0 7.5 30
Cognex 13,701 CGNX USA 67.6 16.4 2.9 -5.6 10.2 33
Keyence 118,816 6861 Japan 42.3 22.4 0.4 -13.4 14.4 34
Alibaba 610,842 BABA China 31.5 7.5 -14.9 7.4 35
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 33.8 4.2 -2.2 11.8 36
TE Connectivity 45,571 TEL Sw itzerland 39.2 4.0 1.4 7.0 3.5 37
Stryker 95,987 SYK USA 35.2 7.5 0.9 11.4 7.6 38
Intuitive Surgical 101,490 ISRG USA 71.7 22.1 -6.9 10.3 39
KUKA 2,322 KU2 Germany 73.4 0.9 0.3 2.5 -6.3 40
Danaher 184,368 DHR USA 31.5 9.1 0.3 8.2 6.8 41
Roper Technologies 46,774 ROP USA 28.7 10.1 0.5 19.8 6.6 42
Aveva 14,088 AVV UK 47.6 12.0 0.7 -0.4 4.5 43
Siasun Robot 2,294 300024 China -39.6 5.7 0.6 -5.2 -8.1 44 Expensive
PTC 15,326 PTC USA 55.0 11.0 4.4 7.8 45
Ocado 20,686 OCDO UK 83.5 6.2 -4.7 0.2 46
Cyberdyne 772 7779 Japan 179.1 31.3 -39.8 -0.4 47
Harm onic Drive 6,454 6324 Japan 97.7 18.6 0.4 -2.5 -0.3 48
Bosch Unlisted Unlisted Germany 49
Huaw ei Unlisted Unlisted China 50
Median 19.1 4.2 0.9 -2.7 7.3
Mean 27.8 6.0 1.2 -3.9 9.4
methodology.

Risk screen
Industrial automation Risk Screen
C
u 5B

Oracle 231,836 ORCL USA 3 4 3 5 2
GE 116,755 GE USA 5 3 3 4 3
21,348 TER USA 3 3 3 5 4
Low risk
Teradyne
PTC 15,326 PTC USA 3 3 3 5 5
Cognex 13,701 CGNX USA 3 3 3 5 6
Cisco 225,769 CSCO USA 4 4 1 5 8
SAP 175,361 SAP Germany 3 4 3 4 9
Bosch Unlisted Unlisted Germany 3 3 4 4 10
Accenture 193,900 ACN Ireland 5 2 2 5 11
Aveva 14,088 AVV UK 4 3 3 4 12
Ocado 20,686 OCDO UK 2 4 2 5 13
Intuitive Surgical 101,490 ISRG USA 3 3 2 5 14
Stryker 95,987 SYK USA 3 3 2 5 15
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 2 4 4 3 16
IBM 129,971 IBM USA 4 1 3 5 17
TE Connectivity 45,571 TEL Sw itzerland 3 3 3 4 18
ABB 72,687 ABBN Sw itzerland 4 2 3 4 19 7B
Ericsson 46,756 ERIC B Sw eden 4 3 2 4 20

Honeyw ell 158,907 HON USA 4 3 3 3 21
Sony 121,042 6758 Japan 4 2 4 3 22
Capgem ini 31,840 CAP France 4 3 3 3 23
Rockw ell Autom ation 31,419 ROK USA 2 3 2 5 24
Danaher 184,368 DHR USA 3 3 2 4 25
Fanuc 49,055 6954 Japan 2 2 5 3 26
Softw are AG 3,204 SOW Germany 3 2 3 4 27
KUKA 2,322 KU2 Germany 3 3 2 4 28
Tata Consultancy Services 157,455 TCS India 3 4 2 3 29
Roper Technologies 46,774 ROP USA 3 3 3 3 30
Nokia 29,451 NOKIA Finland 4 3 3 2 31
Em erson Electric 57,001 EMR USA 2 3 2 4 32
Wipro 38,222 WIPRO India 2 3 3 3 33
Cyberdyne 772 7779 Japan 2 2 4 3 34
Keyence 118,816 6861 Japan 3 2 3 3 35
Siasun Robot 2,294 300024 China 1 2 3 4 36
HollySys Autom ation 829 HOLI China 1 2 3 4 37
Schneider Electric 93,084 SU France 2 3 2 3 38
Om ron 15,958 6645 Japan 2 2 3 3 39
Seiko Epson 6,840 6724 Japan 2 2 3 3 40
Harm onic Drive 6,454 6324 Japan 2 2 3 3 41
Yokogaw a Electric 4,949 6841 Japan 2 3 2 3 42
Nachi Fujikoshi 976 6474 Japan 2 2 3 3 43
Hitachi 48,527 6501 Japan 4 1 2 3 44
Siem ens 149,163 SIE Germany 1 3 2 3 45 High risk
NEC 15,683 6701 Japan 2 2 2 3 46
Huaw ei Unlisted Unlisted China 2 3 3 1 47
Mitsubishi Electric 32,952 6503 Japan 2 1 2 3 48
Kaw asaki Heavy 4,150 7012 Japan 2 1 2 2 49

Application software sector scorecard

Who's who
Who does what in the application software space?
Application software
(45 companies)
MKT CAP
(US$ M)
Adobe ADBE Creativity applications 233,612 USA Softw are conglomerate focusing on information management softw are
Alteryx AYX Data management applications 5,233 USA Developer of softw are for data storage, retrieval, management, reporting and analytics solutions.
Ansys ANSS Computer aided design 28,967 USA Developer of CAD-based engineering softw are
Autodesk ADSK Computer aided design 62,885 USA CAD softw are developer
Bentley System s BSY Decision management applications 13,358 USA Infrastructure and engineering softw are
Blackbaud BLKB CRM softw are 3,272 USA Provider of cloud based CRM services for charity and education sector
Blackline BL Accounting applications 6,237 USA Provider of cloud-based softw are that automates and manages complex manual accounting processes.
Broadcom AVGO Wireless chips 184,789 USA Fabless digital communications chip designer (Broadcom merged w ith Avago)
Cadence Design System s CDNS Computer aided design 35,910 USA CAD softw are developer w ith focus on chip design
Cloudera CLDR Cloud management platforms 3,580 USA Developer of cloud softw are for business data, inc. storage, access, management, analysis, and security
Constellation Softw are CSU Enterprise applications 31,449 Canada Enterprise softw are conglomerate w hich acquires vertical market softw are companies
Coupa COUP Supply chain applications 17,327 USA Developer of procurement softw are
Dassault System es DSY Computer aided design 60,869 France CAD softw are developer focused on 3D product life cycle management
DocuSign DOCU Decision management applications 37,992 USA Provider of electronic signature solutions
Facebook FB Social netw orks 904,740 USA Internet ecosystem monetised via advertising on social netw orks
iFlytek 2230 Voice platform 16,779 China Developer of speech intelligence and artificial intelligence technology.
Intuit INTU Accounting applications 109,820 USA Softw are developer focused on accounting softw are for SMEs
Neusoft 600718 Business process outsourcing 1,765 China Provider of IT services, softw are development and business process outsourcing
New Relic NEWR Data management applications 3,731 USA Provider of performance management tools for data center applications
Nuance NUAN Voice platform 15,077 USA Provides speech and imaging solutions
Open Text OTEX Decision management applications 13,081 Canada Developer of know ledge management softw are for business
Oracle ORCL ERP systems 231,836 USA Softw are conglomerate w ith focus on ERP databases
Progress Softw are PRGS Data management applications 1,943 USA Softw are developer w ith focus on application development and data integration
PTC PTC Decision management applications 15,326 USA Softw are developer focused on process lifecycle management
RingCentral RNG Collaborative softw are 23,357 USA Provider of cloud-based telecoms services.
Sage SGE Accounting applications 9,529 UK Developer of accounting softw are
Salesforce CRM CRM softw are 199,663 USA Cloud services company focused on w eb-based customer relationship management softw are
SAP SAP ERP systems 175,361 Germany Softw are conglomerate focused on ERP systems and Big Data
ServiceNow NOW Cloud management platforms 95,468 USA Provider of IT and cloud service management tools
Slack WORK Collaborative Softw are 23,981 USA Provider of collaborative w orking tools
Snow flake SNOW Data Management Applications 59,483 USA Cloud-based data w arehousing provider
Softw are AG SOW Enterprise applications 3,204 Germany Enterprise softw are provider
Splunk SPLK Data management applications 19,311 USA Big data analytics engine focused on machine-to-machine (M2M) communications
TIBCO Softw are Unlisted Data management applications Unlisted USA Developer of data integration, analytics and event-processing softw are for use in data centers
Workday WDAY ERP systems 57,743 USA Cloud based ERP systems provider
Workiva WK Data management applications 4,515 USA Provider of cloud-based enterprise softw are to collect, manage, report and analyse real time business data.
Xero XRO Accounting applications 15,389 New Zealand Online accounting softw are developer
Zendesk ZEN CRM softw are 16,097 USA Developer of cloud-based customer service and help desk softw are
Zoom ZM Collaborative Softw are 86,936 USA Provider of collaborative w orking tools

Thematic screen
Application software Thematic Screen
C
MKT CAP Artificial Internet Hybrid Multi-cloud Future of o Them atic
Com pany Ticker Country Big Data Blockchain Cybersecurity Sustainability COVID-19
(US$ M) Intelligence of Things cloud m anagem ent w ork l Ranking
u B
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 5 5 4 4 5 3 3 4 5 5 1

IBM 129,972 IBM USA 5 5 5 4 4 4 5 4 3 4 4 Thematic
Splunk 19,311 SPLK USA 4 5 3 5 5 3 5 4 3 3 5
Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 5 4 3 4 5 2 3 4 4 4 6 leader
6B
Salesforce 199,663 CRM USA 4 5 4 3 4 5 3 3 4 4 7

Baidu 67,733 BIDU China 5 5 4 3 4 1 4 3 3 4 8
Oracle 231,836 ORCL USA 4 5 4 4 3 3 4 3 3 4 9
Broadcom 184,790 AVGO USA 4 5 2 4 4 3 4 3 3 3 10
Zoom 86,936 ZM USA 4 4 2 3 3 3 3 3 5 5 11
Snow flake 59,484 SNOW USA 4 4 2 4 4 3 3 3 4 3 12
Slack 23,981 WORK USA 4 4 2 3 3 3 3 3 5 4 13
Cloudera 3,581 CLDR USA 4 5 2 4 4 3 4 3 2 4 14
Adobe 233,613 ADBE USA 4 4 3 2 3 4 4 3 4 4 15
SAP 175,362 SAP Germany 4 4 4 3 4 5 4 3 2 4 16
Open Text 13,082 OTEX Canada 3 5 3 2 3 3 4 4 4 3 17
Cadence Design System s 35,910 CDNS USA 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 4 4 2 18
Bentley System s 13,358 BSY USA 4 4 2 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 19
Alteryx 5,233 AYX USA 3 5 2 4 4 3 4 3 2 3 20
Softw are AG 3,204 SOW Germany 3 5 3 1 4 3 5 5 2 2 21
ServiceNow 95,468 NOW USA 3 4 2 2 3 3 4 3 4 4 22
RingCentral 23,358 RNG USA 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 23
iFlytek 16,779 2230 China 5 4 2 3 5 3 3 3 1 3 24
Workday 57,743 WDAY USA 3 4 4 2 3 3 4 3 3 4 25
Nuance 15,078 NUAN USA 5 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 2 3 26
Blackbaud 3,272 BLKB USA 3 4 4 2 3 3 3 3 4 3 27
Facebook 904,740 FB USA 4 5 3 1 4 2 3 3 2 4 28
7B
DocuSign 37,993 DOCU USA 3 2 3 4 3 3 3 3 4 3 29

TIBCO Softw are Unlisted Unlisted USA 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 4 2 2 30
PTC 15,327 PTC USA 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 31
Autodesk 62,885 ADSK USA 4 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 1 3 32
Workiva 4,516 WK USA 2 4 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 33
New Relic 3,732 NEWR USA 3 5 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 34
Ansys 28,967 ANSS USA 3 3 2 3 4 3 3 3 2 3 35
Xero 15,389 XRO New Zealand 3 3 4 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 36
Dassault System es 60,870 DSY France 3 3 2 3 4 3 3 3 1 2 37
Zendesk 16,097 ZEN USA 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 3 38
Progress Softw are 1,944 PRGS USA 3 4 2 2 3 3 3 3 1 2 39
Intuit 109,821 INTU USA 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 40
Coupa 17,328 COUP USA 3 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 1 2 41 Thematic
Blackline 6,237 BL USA 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 42
Neusoft 1,766 600718 China 2 3 2 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 43 laggard
Constellation Softw are 31,450 CSU Canada 2 3 2 2 3 3 3 2 1 2 44
Sage 9,529 SGE UK 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 1 2 45

Valuation screen
metrics.
Application software Valuation Screen
C
Net Debt EBIT /
MKT CAP o Valuation
Com pany Ticker Country EV/EBITDA EV/Sales Div yield % (Cash)/ Market em ployee
(US$ M) l Ranking
Value % ($'000)
u
Softw are AG 3,204 SOW Germany 14.1 2.9 2.1 -9.2 34.0 1 5B
Baidu 67,733 BIDU China 9.9 3.4 -37.2 54.1 2

Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 28.4 8.0 0.6 -3.6 450.9 3
Sage 9,529 SGE UK 12.9 3.7 2.7 2.3 45.1 4 Cheap
Oracle 231,836 ORCL USA 15.5 6.7 1.3 12.3 102.9 6
SAP 175,361 SAP Germany 18.1 5.6 1.3 3.7 78.1 7
Progress Softw are 1,943 PRGS USA 15.6 5.0 1.5 14.2 60.0 9
Facebook 904,740 FB USA 21.3 9.8 -7.5 538.6 10
Neusoft 1,765 600718 China 429.1 1.4 0.7 -45.3 -0.5 11
Broadcom 184,789 AVGO USA 19.7 9.1 3.0 18.1 199.3 12
IBM 129,971 IBM USA 15.7 2.4 4.5 36.5 12.4 13
Intuit 109,820 INTU USA 44.3 13.8 0.5 -3.4 205.3 14
Open Text 13,081 OTEX Canada 15.6 5.0 1.4 18.5 33.7 15
Constellation Softw are 31,449 CSU Canada 25.7 7.9 0.3 -0.1 31.0 16
iFlytek 16,779 2230 China 43.5 8.2 0.3 -3.1 19.1 17
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 33.8 4.2 -2.2 18.0 18
Blackbaud 3,272 BLKB USA 29.0 4.1 0.2 15.1 12.0 19
Dassault System es 60,869 DSY France 41.4 11.9 0.4 5.3 40.7 20
Salesforce 199,663 CRM USA 57.7 9.0 -6.5 8.0 21
7B
Cadence Design System s 35,910 CDNS USA 44.7 13.2 -2.0 73.4 22
Adobe 233,612 ADBE USA 46.4 18.0 -0.8 188.2 23
Ansys 28,967 ANSS USA 49.6 17.2 -0.4 103.4 24
Zoom 86,936 ZM USA 120.1 31.2 -4.9 149.2 25
New Relic 3,731 NEWR USA -344.3 5.6 -10.1 -38.6 26
Alteryx 5,233 AYX USA 635.6 10.5 -5.6 -2.6 27
Autodesk 62,885 ADSK USA 83.2 16.5 -0.3 54.7 28
PTC 15,326 PTC USA 55.0 11.0 4.4 33.8 29
Cloudera 3,580 CLDR USA -52.0 4.0 -7.8 -57.3 30
Bentley System s 13,358 BSY USA 72.4 16.8 0.9 36.6 31
Nuance 15,077 NUAN USA 70.9 11.0 7.7 15.9 32
ServiceNow 95,468 NOW USA 192.4 20.8 -3.1 11.6 33
Workday 57,743 WDAY USA 1242.9 13.0 -3.2 -19.9 34
Workiva 4,515 WK USA -128.1 12.2 -4.9 -22.0 35
Blackline 6,237 BL USA 6108.2 17.4 -2.2 -15.0 36
Xero 15,389 XRO New Zealand 162.6 29.6 -0.2 7.7 37
Zendesk 16,097 ZEN USA -116.0 15.7 -2.1 -40.2 38
Snow flake 59,483 SNOW USA -104.1 93.9 -8.5 -269.7 39
Slack 23,981 WORK USA -90.7 25.6 -4.2 -111.2 40
Splunk 19,311 SPLK USA -28.8 8.9 2.2 -120.0 41 Expensive
DocuSign 37,992 DOCU USA -277.9 26.1 -0.4 -36.9 42
RingCentral 23,357 RNG USA -641.2 20.4 2.4 -36.1 43
Coupa 17,327 COUP USA -193.0 33.7 5.2 -63.7 44
TIBCO Softw are Unlisted Unlisted USA 45
Median 26.8 10.5 0.0 -2.0 19.1
Mean 174.5 13.7 0.5 -0.9 53.4
methodology.

Risk screen
Application software Risk Screen
C
u 5B

Snow flake 59,483 SNOW USA 4 4 3 5 2
Oracle 231,836 ORCL USA 3 4 3 5 3
Broadcom 184,789 AVGO USA 3 4 3 5 4
Low risk
Sage 9,529 SGE UK 4 3 3 5 5
Intuit 109,820 INTU USA 3 3 3 5 6
Autodesk 62,885 ADSK USA 3 3 3 5 7
Cadence Design System s 35,910 CDNS USA 3 3 3 5 8
Ansys 28,967 ANSS USA 3 3 3 5 9
PTC 15,326 PTC USA 3 3 3 5 10
Nuance 15,077 NUAN USA 3 3 3 5 11
Blackbaud 3,272 BLKB USA 3 3 3 5 12
Progress Softw are 1,943 PRGS USA 3 3 3 5 13
SAP 175,361 SAP Germany 3 4 3 4 15
Apple 2,172,897 AAPL USA 4 3 4 3 16
Splunk 19,311 SPLK USA 2 2 4 5 17
Adobe 233,612 ADBE USA 3 2 3 5 18
Am azon 1,660,037 AMZN USA 2 4 4 3 19 7B
IBM 129,971 IBM USA 4 1 3 5 20

Slack 23,981 WORK USA 3 3 3 4 21
ServiceNow 95,468 NOW USA 2 2 3 5 22
Workday 57,743 WDAY USA 2 2 3 5 23
Zendesk 16,097 ZEN USA 2 3 2 5 24
New Relic 3,731 NEWR USA 2 2 3 5 25
Open Text 13,081 OTEX Canada 2 3 3 4 26
Softw are AG 3,204 SOW Germany 3 2 3 4 27
Salesforce 199,663 CRM USA 2 2 2 5 28
Constellation Softw are 31,449 CSU Canada 2 2 3 4 29
Dassault System es 60,869 DSY France 2 3 3 3 30
Coupa 17,327 COUP USA 2 3 3 3 31
Workiva 4,515 WK USA 2 3 3 3 32
DocuSign 37,992 DOCU USA 4 2 2 3 33
Xero 15,389 XRO New Zealand 2 2 2 4 34
RingCentral 23,357 RNG USA 2 3 2 3 35
Blackline 6,237 BL USA 2 2 3 3 36
Alteryx 5,233 AYX USA 2 2 3 3 37
Cloudera 3,580 CLDR USA 2 2 3 3 38
TIBCO Softw are Unlisted Unlisted USA 2 2 3 3 39
Neusoft 1,765 600718 China 1 2 3 3 40
Bentley System s 13,358 BSY USA 2 2 2 3 41 High risk
Facebook 904,740 FB USA 2 4 1 2 42
iFlytek 16,779 2230 China 2 3 2 1 44
Zoom 86,936 ZM USA 1 1 2 1 45

Glossary
Term Definition
5G 5G refers to the fifth generation of cellular technology standards that will be based on
IMT2020 standards, under development by the 3GPP. The term 5G does not explicitly
refer to any particular technology or standard. It is, therefore, a loose term that can be
used and interpreted in multiple different ways, typically for marketing purposes.
Accelerometer An instrument used to measure the acceleration of a moving or vibrating body.
Actuator A component of a machine that is responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism
or system, for example by opening a valve.
AI chips Chips that are designed to perform AI tasks more efficiently, thereby reducing the time
taken to, for example, process the large data sets associated with machine learning.
They are often referred to as AI accelerators and come in a variety of forms, including
graphics processing units (GPUs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and
application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).
Ambient commerce Refers to the concept of a smart, connected retail store which can detect what you
want, what you are looking at, what you are buying, and then intelligently assist you by
sending you relevant offers or accepting payment from you without much prompting
and certainly without any form of check-out register.
Application programming A set of defined methods of communication between programs so that information can
interface (API) be exchanged without the need to access the core of either program.
Artificial intelligence (AI) Refers to software-based systems that use data inputs to make decisions on their own.
Artificial intelligence of The convergence between artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).
things (AIoT) AIoT involves embedding AI technology into IoT components and combining data
collected by sensors and actuators with the analytical capabilities of AI.
Augmented reality (AR) Technology that allows the user to see the real world overlaid with a layer of digital
content. This digital content layer can include sensor-based data, sound, video,
graphics, or other datasets.
Automated home The automation and control of household appliances – whether it be a fridge, TV, front
door lock, kettle or light bulb – via connection to the internet.
Beacon A hardware transmitter - a class of Bluetooth low energy (LE) device that broadcasts
their identifier to nearby portable electronic devices. The technology enables
smartphones, tablets, and other devices to perform actions when in close proximity to
a beacon
Big data Extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns,
trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions.
Biometrics The measurement and analysis of physical or behavioral characteristics as a means of
verifying personal identity.
Business intelligence (BI) Technologies, applications, and practices for the collection, integration, analysis, and
presentation of business information.
Central processing unit The unit which performs most of the processing inside a computer. It carries out all the
(CPU) logical and arithmetical operations.
Cloud computing Computing delivered as an online service. It encompasses the provision of IT
infrastructure, operating software, middleware, and applications hosted within a data
center and accessed by the end user via the internet.
Connected car A vehicle equipped with intelligent systems and services connected to the internet.

Term Definition
Conversational platforms Tools that employ a variety of technologies – including speech recognition, natural
language processing (NLP), contextual awareness, and machine learning – to enable
human-like interaction with computer systems.
Deep learning A field of machine learning that is built using artificial neural networks which model the
way neurons in the human brain talk to each other.
Digital twins Software representations of assets and processes that are used to understand, predict,
and optimize performance to achieve improved business outcomes. Digital twins
typically consist of three components: a data model, a set of analytics or algorithms,
and knowledge
Distributed denial of A coordinated attack in which multiple connected machines in a botnet, usually
service (DDoS) infected with malware or otherwise compromised to co-opt them into the attack, flood
a network, server, or website with so much data as to make it unusable.
Edge analytics Refers to the analysis of robot sensor data in computer chips embedded in the robot
itself rather than in the cloud to help them learn to self-diagnose faults.
Edge computing Refers to a network architecture concept that enables cloud computing capabilities and
an IT service environment at the edge of the network. By running applications and
performing processing tasks closer to the customer, edge computing delivers superior
performance with reduced latency.
Endpoint security A method for protecting the corporate network when accessed via remote devices such
as laptops or other wireless and mobile devices. Each device with a remote connection
to the network creates a potential entry point for security threats.
Galvanic skin response A change in the electrical resistance of the skin caused by emotional stress, measurable
with a sensitive galvanometer.
Graphics processing unit A programmable logic chip specialized for display functions. Modern GPUs can
(GPU) manipulate computer graphics and provide image processing very efficiently. They are
also able to take large data sets and perform the same operation repeatedly and at high
speed, which has made them fundamental to the development of artificial intelligence
technologies.
Healthtech The application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines,
vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve
quality of lives.
Industrial Internet Refers to the use of connected sensors and actuators to control and monitor the
industrial machinery environment, to help detect faults early and predict maintenance
requirements.
Infrastructure as a service Refers to self-service models for accessing remote data center hardware such as
(IaaS) computing power, storage, and networking equipment, as needed.
Internet service provider A company that provides customers with access to the internet, using a range of
(ISP) technologies to connect users to their network. An ISP has the equipment and the
telecommunication line access required to have a point-of-presence on the internet for
the geographic area served.
Internet of Everything The emerging IoT world of hundreds of millions and eventually billions of more or less
autonomous, connected devices, ranging from traffic lights and fridges to cars, robot
surgeons and internal and wearable biometric sensors. There will be a mega-shift to
decentralized, sensor-driven, edge and IoT computing as the physical and the cyber
merge.
Internet of Things (IoT) An umbrella term used to describe the use of connected sensors and actuators to
control and monitor the environment, the things that move within it, and the people
that act within it.

Term Definition
Internet protocol (IP) A set of rules governing the format of data sent over the internet or other networks.
Latency The time it takes a data packet to transit from point A to point B.
Machine learning An application of AI that gives computer systems the ability to learn and improve from
data without being explicitly programmed.
Machine vision Machine vision (MV) applies computer vision to industrial and manufacturing functions.
The technology is a combination of software and hardware which provide operational
control to devices to execute functions such as capturing and processing images and
measuring various characteristics required for decision making.
Machine-to-machine A wireless or wired network setup that allows direct communication between devices
(M2M) of the same type.
Microcontroller A small computer on a single integrated circuit. In modern terminology, it is similar to,
but less sophisticated than, a system on a chip or SoC. An SoC may include a
microcontroller as one of its components.
Micro-electromechanical Miniaturized mechanical and electro-mechanical elements (typically devices and
systems (MEMS) structures) that are made using the techniques of microfabrication.
Microprocessor An integrated circuit that incorporates all the functions of a central processing unit.
Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) A standards-based low power wide area network (LPWAN) technology developed by
3GPP to enable a wide range of cellular devices and services. NB-IoT focuses specifically
on indoor coverage, low cost, long battery life, and high connection density.
Natural language A field of AI concerned with enabling computers to analyze, understand and derive
processing (NLP) meaning from human language (both text and speech).
Near field communication A set of communication protocols that enable two electronic devices, one of which is
(NFC) usually a portable device such as a smartphone, to establish communication by bringing
them within 4 centimeters of each other.
Platform as a service (PaaS) Refers to the next level of abstraction of cloud computing after IaaS. It includes aspects
of the traditional IT stack which are covered by the operating system, middleware,
analytics, and database. PaaS uses include application development, application
testing, data warehousing, business intelligence and database provision.
Predictive maintenance The asset management practice of repairing an asset or piece of equipment before it
fails based on data received about it. The use of sensors to generate ‘predictive
maintenance’ is one of the tenets at the heart of the Industrial Internet.
Radio frequency A unique identifier for any object that is easier and quicker to read than barcodes. RFID
identification (RFID) tags can be attached to any object or built into products at the manufacturing stage,
consisting of a chip that can carry up to 2,000 bytes of data as well as a small antenna.
SD-WAN An extension of the principle behind SDN to encompass the provision and management
of wide area networks
Sensor A device which detects or measures a physical property and then responds accordingly.
Smart and connected Refers to today's hyper-connected, technology-enabled society, where consumers
seamlessly integrate the use of multiple technologies into their lives and buying
behavior.
Smart city A city that uses connected sensors to enhance the quality and performance of urban
services such as energy, transport, and utilities to make the city function more
efficiently.
Software-defined An environment in which all aspects of an application and the infrastructure it needs to
everything (SDE) operate are defined, configured, and managed at runtime in software.

Term Definition
Software-defined An emerging architecture for data networks. It allows software – rather than hardware
networking (SDN) – to control the network path along which data packets flow. It is still under
development but, ultimately, it may replace IP networking, a hardware standard, as the
main standard governing the transmission mechanisms of the internet.
Spectrum This term relates to the radio frequencies allocated to the telecoms industry (and other
sectors) for communication over the airwaves. Spectrum has always been of vital
importance to the mobile carrier industry, but it was not until the arrival of 4G that
specific frequencies had an impact on deployments. Mid-band spectrum (which has
come to refer to spectrum generally above 1 GHz and below 6 GHz) offers up higher
data speeds, while low-band spectrum (below 1 GHz) offers better coverage. The arrival
of 5G will force the telecoms industry to tap into a wide range of spectrum bands, from
sub-1 GHz to millimeter wave frequencies (the band between 30 GHz and 300 GHz, also
known as extremely high frequency (EHF) or very high frequency (VHF)).
System on a chip (SoC) A microchip that contains all the components required for a given electronic system,
such as a computer, on a single integrated circuit. Its components usually include a
graphics processing unit (GPU), a central processing unit (CPU), and system memory.
Virtual reality (VR) Technology that aims to immerse the user in an entirely artificial world, which has the
illusion of reality. It uses special equipment such as a headset or gloves fitted with
sensors to simulate a user's physical presence in a 3D environment.
Wearable tech A blanket term for electronic devices that can be worn on the body, either as an
accessory (like a watch or a pair of glasses) or as part of the material used in clothing
(such as sportswear that measures biometrics).
Wide area network (WAN) A wide area network (WAN) is a telecoms network or computer network that extends
over a large geographical distance, typically with a radius of over 1km.
Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) The popular wireless networking technology that uses radio waves to provide wireless
high-speed Internet and network connections.
Source: GlobalData

Further reading
GlobalData reports
Publication date Report title
17 March 2021 Thematic Research: Smart Clothing
9 March 2021 Thematic Research: 5G
26 January 2021 Thematic Research: TMT Predictions 2021
18 December 2020 Thematic Research: Digital Twins
8 December 2020 Thematic Research: Tech, Media, & Telecom Themes 2021
27 November 2020 Thematic Research: Software Defined Everything
3 November 2020 Thematic Research: Hearables
15 October 2020 Thematic Research: Emerging Technology Trends Survey 2020
2 October 2020 Thematic Research: Artificial Intelligence
8 September 2020 Thematic Research: Connected Car
28 August 2020 Thematic Research: Smart Glasses
1 July 2020 Thematic Research: Smartwatches
24 June 2020 Thematic Research: Cybersecurity
2 June 2020 Thematic Research: Cloud Computing (2020)
11 December 2019 Thematic Research: Smart cities
1 August 2019 Thematic Research: Wearable Tech 2019
5 June 2019 Thematic Research: Automated home
28 May 2019 Thematic Research: Industrial Internet
19 October 2018 Thematic Research: Smart Speakers
14 June 2018 Thematic Research: Internet of Things
Source: GlobalData

| Our thematic research methodology

Companies that invest in the right themes become success stories. Those that miss the important themes in their industry
end up as failures.
Viewing the world's data by themes makes it easier to make important decisions
We define a theme as any issue that keeps a CEO awake at night. GlobalData's thematic research ecosystem is a single,
integrated global research platform that provides an easy-to-use framework for tracking all themes across all companies
in all sectors. It has a proven track record of identifying the important themes early, enabling companies to make the
right investments ahead of the competition, and secure that all-important competitive advantage.
Traditional research does a poor job of picking winners and losers

The difficulty in picking tomorrow's winners and losers in any industry arises from the sheer number of technology cycles
– and other themes – that are in full swing right now. Companies are impacted by multiple themes that frequently
conflict with one another. What is needed is an effective methodology that reflects, understands, and reconciles these
conflicts.
That is why we developed our "thematic engine"

At GlobalData, we have developed a unique thematic methodology for ranking all companies in all sectors based on their
relative strength in the big investment themes that are impacting their industries. Our thematic engine identifies which
companies are best placed to succeed in a future filled with multiple disruptive threats.
To do this, we rate the performance of the top 1,000 companies against the 50 most important themes impacting those
companies, generating 50,000 thematic scores. The algorithms in GlobalData's thematic engine help to identify the long-
term winners and losers within each sector.
How do we create our sector scorecards?

First, we split each industry into its component sectors, because each sector is driven by a different set of themes. Taking
the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry as an example, we split this industry into the 18 sectors shown in the
graphic below.
Our five-step approach for generating a sector scorecard

Here we use the tech, media and telecom sector as an example sector, for illustration purposes
Sectors Themes Research Thematic screen Sector scorecard
1. Split the global TMT 2. Identify and rank the 3. Identify and score tech 4. Calculate overall 5. Determine leading companies
sector into 18 subsectors. top 10 themes driving leaders and challengers thematic rankings for in each sector using our three
earnings for each sector. for each theme. all companies in a sector. screens.
Hardware
Semiconductors 1. Voice
Servers, storage, networking
Telecom equipment Consumer
electronics Sector Scorecard =
Component makers
Industrial automation
Software 2. Cloud Thematic screen
Application software
Infrastructure software +
Security software Valuation screen
Video games software
IT services +
Internet & Media 3. Blockchain
E-commerce
Risk Screen
Social media
Advertising
Music, film and television
Publishing
Telecoms 10. Internet of
Telecom operators
Cable operators Things
Source: GlobalData

Second, we identify and rank the top 10 themes for each sector (these can be technology themes, macroeconomic
themes, or industry-specific themes). Third, we publish in-depth research on specific themes, identifying the winners
and losers within each theme. The problem is that companies are exposed to multiple investment themes and the
relative importance of specific themes can fluctuate. So, our fourth step is to create a thematic screen for each sector to
calculate overall thematic leadership rankings after taking account of all themes impacting that sector. Finally, to give a
crystal-clear picture, we combine this thematic screen with our valuation and risk screens to generate a sector scorecard
used to help assess overall winners and losers.
What is in our sector scorecards?

Our sector scorecards help us determine which companies are best positioned for a future filled with disruptive threats.
Each sector scorecard has three screens:
▪ The thematic screen tells us who are the overall leaders in the 10 themes that matter most, based on the
algorithms in our thematic engine;
▪ The valuation screen tells us whether publicly listed players appear cheap or expensive relative to their peers,
based on consensus forecasts from investment analysts; and
▪ The risk screen tells us who the riskiest players in each industry are, based on our assessment of four risk
categories: corporate governance risk, accounting risk, technology risk, and political risk.
How do we score companies in our thematic screen?

Our thematic screen ranks companies within a sector based on overall technology leadership in the 10 themes that
matter most to their industry, generating a leading indicator of future earnings growth.
Thematic scores predict the future, not the past.
Our thematic scores are based on our analysts' assessment of their competitive position in relation to a theme, on a
scale of 1 to 5:
The company's activity with regards to this theme will be highly detrimental to its future
1 Vulnerable
performance.
The company's activity with regards to this theme will be detrimental to its future
2 Follower
performance.
The company's activity with regards to this theme will have a negligible impact on the
3 Neutral
company's future performance, or this theme is not currently relevant for this company.
The company is a market leader in this theme. The company's activity with regards to this
4 Leader
theme will improve its future performance.
The company is a dominant player in this theme. The company's activity with regards to this
5 Dominant
theme will significantly improve its future performance.
How our research reports fit into our overall thematic research ecosystem?
Our thematic research ecosystem is designed to assess the impact of all major themes on the leading companies in a
sector. To do this, we produce three tiers of thematic reports:
▪ Single Theme: These reports offer in-depth research into a specific theme (e.g. artificial intelligence). They
identify winners and losers based on technology leadership, market position, and other factors.
▪ Multi-Theme: These reports cover all themes impacting a sector and the implications for the key players in that
sector.
▪ Sector Scorecard: These reports identify those companies most likely to succeed in a world filled with disruptive
threats. They incorporate our thematic screen to show how conflicting themes interact with one another, as
well as our valuation and risk screens.

| About GlobalData
GlobalData is a leading provider of data, analytics, and insights on the world's largest
industries.
In an increasingly fast-moving, complex, and uncertain world, it has never been harder for organizations and decision
makers to predict and navigate the future. This is why GlobalData's mission is to help our clients to decode the future
and profit from faster, more informed decisions. As a leading information services company, thousands of clients rely on
GlobalData for trusted, timely, and actionable intelligence. Our solutions are designed to provide a daily edge to
professionals within corporations, financial institutions, professional services, and government agencies.
Unique Data
We continuously update and enrich 50+ terabytes of unique data to provide an unbiased, authoritative view of the
sectors, markets, and companies offering growth opportunities across the world's largest industries.
Expert Analysis
We leverage the collective expertise of over 2,000 in-house industry analysts, data scientists, and journalists, as well as
a global community of industry professionals, to provide decision-makers with timely, actionable insight.
Innovative Solutions
We help you work smarter and faster by giving you access to powerful analytics and customizable workflow tools tailored
to your role, alongside direct access to our expert community of analysts.
One Platform
We have a single taxonomy across all of our data assets and integrate our capabilities into a single platform – giving you
easy access to a complete, dynamic, and comparable view of the world's largest industries.
Disclaimer: All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or
transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission of the publisher, GlobalData. The facts of this report are believed to be correct at the time of publication but
cannot be guaranteed. Please note that the findings, conclusions and recommendations that GlobalData delivers will be
based on information gathered in good faith from both primary and secondary sources, whose accuracy we are not
always in a position to guarantee. As such, GlobalData can accept no liability whatsoever for actions taken based on any
information that may subsequently prove to be incorrect.

| Contact Us
If you have any more questions regarding our thematic research services, please get
in touch.
Head of Thematic Research Customer Success Team

Cyrus Mewawalla
0B Understand how to use our Themes product
2B
cyrus.mewawalla@globaldata.com customersuccess.thematic@globaldata.com
3B
+44 (0) 207 936 6522

1B +44 (0) 207 406 6764
4B

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Thematic Research: Technology

Technology briefing ...................................................................................................................................................... 6

Industry analysis ......................................................................................................................................................... 20

Value chain ................................................................................................................................................................. 38

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 2

Industrial automation sector scorecard ......................................................................................................................... 66

| Our thematic research methodology ....................................................................................................................... 79

| About GlobalData .................................................................................................................................................... 81

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 3

▪ Device layer: AMD, Intel, Arm (Softbank), Apple, Amazon, Google,

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 4

Internet of Things Internet of Things Leaders Challengers

Amazon Intel AAC Technologies Mobvoi

Arista Networks IBM Accton KDDI

Accenture McKinsey Alarm.com Genpact

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 5

The five big IoT market segments

Below we set out our full IoT market map.

Consumer IoT Enterprise IoT

Smart lighting Smart city People & animal

Smart Smart payments

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 6

See Automated Home.

See Connected Car and Autonomous Vehicles.

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 7

See Smart Cities.

See Industrial Internet and Digital Twins.

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 8

The key enabling technologies for IoT

There are four key enabling technologies for IoT

5G Internet Cloud computing

See Artificial Intelligence.

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 9

See Cloud Computing.

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 10

The four stages of IoT development

There are four stages of IoT development

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 11

Top IoT trends 2021

On the following pages, we explain these trends in more detail.

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 12

Trend What's happening?

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Trend What's happening?

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 14

Trend What's happening?

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 15

Trend What's happening?

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 16

Trend What's happening?

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Trend What's happening?

WWW.GLOBALDATA.COM © GlobalData Plc 2021 | 18

Trend What's happening?

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Business benefits of IoT