India's IoT module market grew at the fastest rate of 264% annually on a lower base in Q2 2022. The growth was driven by smart meters, telematics, POS (point of sale) and automotive applications, according to the latest report from research firm Counterpoint.

Neighbouring China retained its position as the world’s largest IoT market in Q2 2022, contributing to over half of the demand despite the lockdowns. The country’s cellular IoT module market recovered slightly from previous months this year. Lockdown-triggered applications like smart locks, surveillance systems and routers contributed to the growth in China.

The data shows that the top five applications in Q2 2022 – smart meter, POS, industrial, router/CPE and asset tracking – captured over half of the total IoT module market.

On a global scale, cellular IoT module shipments grew 20% YoY in Q2 2022, showing a continued recovery despite a tighter supply chain, COVID-19 lockdowns in China and macroeconomic headwinds. The growth globally is attributed to the rise in critical infrastructure and logistics applications catered by some key fast-growing low-tier cellular technologies such as Cat-1 and NB-IoT.

The North American and western European markets, on the other hand, grew steadily. They held their second and third positions, respectively, in the global cellular IoT module market, shows the Counterpoint data.

“The IoT module market is going through a critical phase where the Chinese brands have become bigger, making it very difficult for international brands to grow in silos," says Counterpoint senior research analyst Soumen Mandal.

This has resulted in the first wave of market consolidation. During Q2, California-based IoT major Telit acquired French multinational Thales’ cellular IoT module business. Telit also acquired IoT solutions design house Mobilogix.

Also, California-based Semtech, one of the big component vendors and the key chipset provider for the proprietary LoRa-based IoT network, acquired Canada-based leading cellular IoT and router vendor Sierra Wireless to build an end-to-end wireless IoT portfolio.

Currently, six out of the top 10 IoT module vendors are from China. With the rising geopolitical competition and data privacy concerns, international players see an opportunity to consolidate and carve out a dichotomy in this segment, says the report.

"Telit, Thales, u-blox and Sierra Wireless improving their offerings over the last 12 months has been a step in the right direction," says Mandal.

During Q2, the top three players Quectel, Fibocom, MeiG, accounted for over half of the market shipments. Quectel's module shipments increased 47% YoY, further increasing its gap with the remaining players.

Fibocom, the second largest module vendor, saw 12% YoY growth in its module shipments. Nearly 60% of its module shipments came from the China market. After a slow Q1 2022 due to China lockdowns, MeiG registered growth that helped it enter the top three IoT module ranks globally. Focussing on higher-end IoT module apps, MeiG is expanding into the fast-growing 4G Cat 1 bis market, targeting applications such as POS, industrial, asset tracking, smart meter and enterprise.

The top five technologies, including NB-IoT, 4G Cat 1, 4G Cat 4, 4G Cat 1 bis and LPWA-Dual Mode, captured more than 80% of the shipments in Q2.

Telit-thales deal

India’s IoT module market grows fastest at 264% in Q2 2022