Spending on Internet of Things in Australia and New Zealand is predicted to reach NZ$26.5 billion by 2026 according to research firm IDC.
Spending on IoT products and services in Australia and New Zealand will exceed $17.7 billion in 2022 alone, an increase of 13 per cent from 2021, IDC’s Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide said.
Labour-intensive and assets-heavy industries, such as manufacturing, utilities, and transportation, will continue to be the biggest investors in 2022 and forecasted years.
IDC IT spending guides market analyst Sharad Kotagi said economic, political and pandemic factors were influencing organisations to adopt digital-first strategies and that augmenting automation in individual processes was driving these industries to invest in IoT.
"Enterprises in Australia and New Zealand are leveraging their technology investments to transform into digital-first organizations."
:The use of IoT will enable empathetic customer experience, robust operational models, and improved collaboration," Kotagi said.
Kotagi said governments were also investing in IoT initiatives to strengthen the manufacturing supply chain.
“The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative is one example in Australia to enhance the country's manufacturing supply chain for critical products,” the report said.
The IoT market still faces challenges despite the predicted growth such as rising inflation, chip shortages, trade restrictions, natural calamities, and supply chain disruptions.
The study however predicted that these obstacles would be countered by factors fuelling significant potential in the region's IoT deployment including 5G adoption, surging currency rates, and maturing adoption of technologies such as AI, Cloud, and Big Data.
“The role of IoT continues to grow as enterprises embrace digital initiatives and look to embed intelligence across processes and applications.
Enabling this requires building bridges between operational technology and IT stakeholders at multiple levels," IDC vice president of telecom and IoT in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan Hugh Ujhazy said
"Those that embrace integration are forecast to thrive in the new normal," Ujhazy added.
IDC’s The Worldwide Internet of Things Spending Guide researched IoT spending for nine regions and 53 countries at 19 technology categories and 81 named use cases across 19 industries.
The report found IoT use cases in Australia and New Zealand that would experience the highest spending in 2022 were related to host industries such as manufacturing operations, production asset management, smart grid (electricity), and freight monitoring.
The report found that, combined, these use-cases would make more than one-third of the overall IoT spending in the region.
The use cases that were predicted to see the fastest spending growth in 2022 in Australia and New Zealand were bedside telemetry, advanced payment/shopping and maintenance and field service.
