Cellular and LPWA IoT Device Ecosystems – 9th Edition

Cellular and LPWA IoT Device Ecosystems gives a comprehensiveoverview of the main wide area networking technologies for theInternet of Things – 2G/3G/4G/5G cellular, LoRa, Sigfox as well asa group of emerging LPWA technologies including 802.15.4-basedprotocols, Wirepas Mesh, DECT-2020 NR and Mioty. This strategicresearch report from Berg Insight provides you with 130 pages ofunique business intelligence including 5-year industry forecasts andexpert commentary on which to base your business decisions.

The Internet of Things is continuously evolving and expanding into new domains. By the end of2024, approximately 4.3 billion devices were connected to wide area networks based on cellularor LPWA technologies. The market is highly diverse and divided into multiple ecosystems. Thisreport focuses on the most prominent technology ecosystems for wide area IoT networking –the 3GPP ecosystem of cellular technologies and the LPWA technologies LoRa and Sigfox – aswell as a group of emerging LPWA technologies including IEEE 802.15.4-based protocols,Wirepas Mesh, DECT-2020 NR (NR+) and Mioty.

The 3GPP family of cellular technologies supports the largest ecosystem in wide area IoTnetworking. Berg Insight estimates that the global number of cellular IoT subscribers amountedto 3.8 billion at the end of 2024 – corresponding to 30 percent of all mobile subscribers. Yearlyshipments of cellular IoT modules amounted to 514 million units in 2024, up 22 percent year-on-year. Annual cellular IoT module revenues grew by 13 percent to US$ 6.0 billion. The five largestcellular module vendors – Quectel, Fibocom, Telit Cinterion, Rolling Wireless and MeiG – held amarket share of 71 percent in terms of revenues. Qualcomm, ASR Microelectronics and UNISOCare the main cellular IoT chipset suppliers. Other important cellular IoT chipset providers includeEigencomm, MediaTek, Sony and Xinyi Information Technology.

IoT-optimised 4G LTE technologies dominate the cellular IoT technology landscape as LTE Cat-1/LTE Cat-1 bis, NB-IoT and LTE-M replace 2G and 3G technologies in the low- to mid-marketsegments. LTE Cat-4 and higher Cat LTE-A technologies remain the main alternative for high-speed IoT devices but will over time be replaced by 5G as network coverage and pricingimproves. 5G IoT devices are today largely concentrated to FWA CPEs, IoT routers as well ascars from front-running automotive OEMs. 5G RedCap modules will in time enable a broader setof 5G IoT use cases. Uptake of the technology is expected to be limited in the short term due tothe price gap to 4G LTE Cat-4/6 modules and 5G SA network coverage requirements. CellularIoT module shipments are forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.0percent to reach 866 million units by 2029.

LoRa is gaining momentum as a global connectivity platform for IoT devices. Cumulativeshipments of LoRa end nodes reached 410 million at the beginning of 2025. The majority ofdemand comes from devices deployed in private networks, which remain the dominantdeployment model for LoRa networks. Major volume application segments are smart gas andwater metering, where LoRa’s low power consumption matches the requirements for long-lifebattery operation. The technology is also widely used for metropolitan and local area IoTdeployments for networking of smart sensors and tracking devices in cities, industrial plants andcommercial buildings. Smart home is expected to become a major application area in thecoming years, driven by Amazon’s Sidewalk network in the US. Berg Insight estimates that yearlyshipments of LoRa devices amounted to 60 million units in 2024. Until 2029, yearly shipmentsare forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 16.5 percent to reach 129 million units.

The Singapore-based Sigfox operator UnaBiz took over as the new owner of Sigfox in 2022,setting a new direction for the Sigfox technology and operating model for the business. At theend of 2024, the installed base of Sigfox devices reached 14.2 million, up 14 percent from theprevious year. Berg Insight believes that the critical test for Sigfox will be how the technology isreceived in the asset tracking segment. In addition, sensor solutions in different industries is oneof the most promising application areas for the technology. Berg Insight forecasts that shipmentsof Sigfox devices will grow at a CAGR of 38.8 percent from 2.2 million units in 2024 to 11.4 millionunits by 2029.

Emerging LPWA device ecosystems such as IEEE 802.15.4, Wirepas Mesh, Mioty and NR+ havethe potential to grow into significant IoT networking platforms in the coming years. So far, IEEE802.15.4 has achieved the most widespread adoption. The technology is the most mature in thegroup and has gained support from several of the leading smart metering vendors. WirepasMesh counted an installed base of 12 million in early 2025 and has been used in a number oflarge-scale projects. Mioty has in the last few years started to gain traction within smart watermetering and has reached an installed base of 1 million. DECT-2020 NR (NR+) is an even morenascent technology, deployed primarily in pilot projects.