Why IoT?

In today’s digital age, data is at the core of development.

From a technological standpoint, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and big data all have high demands for data; from an application scenario perspective, smart homes, autonomous driving, and intelligent manufacturing require the mature development of related technologies to realize practical and valuable implementations. IoT, as the core for initiating data collection and linking networks, will play the most fundamental and critical role in the overall industrial development.

IoT has always been a focal point on the global stage.

Considering that different countries have their own development advantages, the progress of the IoT industry varies from country to country. In this quarterly report, we deeply discussed the development history and current status of IoT, technological bottlenecks and breakthroughs, key application scenarios, important leading players, etc., with 7 industry experts or practitioners, showcasing the development potential and future trends of IoT in China from all angles.

Although the actual application of IoT in industry processes is still in its infancy, its huge market scale and countless profit opportunities in related industries are undeniable.

According to IDC, IoT will generate $1.46 trillion in value worldwide by 2020; while Chinaidr predicts that by then, China’s IoT market scale will exceed 1.8 trillion RMB. It is generally believed that China will become a major player in the IoT industry. Thanks to the large population base and low chip manufacturing costs, China will play an important role in driving the growth of the global IoT market.

Startups in the IoT industry are also very active in China.

From the perspective of financing transactions, since 2009, financing for IoT startups in China has been on the rise; and according to data from Whale Index, in 2018, a large amount of venture capital flowed into the IoT market in China, highlighting investors’ confidence in the Chinese internet industry.

The rapid development of IoT in China cannot be separated from the strong promotion of the government.The government implements IoT growth strategies among cities, promoting rapid progress of enterprises while driving development in fields such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and big data; the government’s role is crucial in the rapid deployment and construction of network infrastructure; in the future, the Chinese government is also likely to continue to increase support in areas such as semiconductor chips.

The development of IoT is closely related to many technology industries.On one hand, IoT provides opportunities and data support for research in many technologies; on the other hand, the level of achievements in these technology industries also affects the upper limits of IoT development. For example, high-level applications of IoT rely on high-level customized chips, including overall solutions for chip design and manufacturing, wireless communication, and security performance, which presents very high industry barriers for chip manufacturers and may lead to bottlenecks in IoT development.

In fact, this is a major challenge faced by the Chinese IoT industry. To address this crisis, the Chinese government emphasizes the need to gain independent R&D capabilities for chips, although this is not easy. One important reason why the Chinese IoT industry is viewed positively is that despite numerous difficulties, China still retains significant competitiveness. In addition to rich production experience and low manufacturing costs, Chinese IoT enterprises have at least two opportunities to catch up with global competitors: one is the leading narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) industry standard, and the other is the leading position of the artificial intelligence industry globally. Furthermore, the arrival of the 5G era also provides valuable opportunities for the development of IoT.

The future application scenarios of IoT are very rich and leave great room for imagination.

In this quarterly report, we focused on the bottlenecks currently existing in industrial manufacturing, smart homes, smart hardware, etc., discussed the empowerment of IoT in these fields, and projected future development trends.

In the manufacturing field, the implementation of industrial IoT will make smart manufacturing possible, achieving efficient connections between R&D, manufacturing, and supply chains, ultimately realizing intelligent decision-making. In addition, industrial IoT can be applied in flexible manufacturing systems, introducing high-level personal customization into the manufacturing industry.

In the smart home field, communities will also become part of IoT, not only maintaining public facilities and residents’ rights more efficiently and safely but also integrating with various home systems to improve regional logistics distribution systems. Moreover, when IoT systems are combined with new energy generation systems, the generated energy can be equivalently converted into digital currency, allowing households to produce the electricity they need and even engage in energy trading.

In the smart hardware field, IoT will continue to drive the development of smart hardware. Whether it’s smart robots or wearable smart devices, personal voice assistants or new smart cities, all will usher in new development space with the promotion of IoT and related industries.

For the complete 36-page report, please follow the “36Kr Innovation Consulting” public account and reply “IoT Report” in the background.

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