Internet of Things Market Growing? PsiKick Infographic Explores Shrinking Expectations
Today’s Experts Predict 25 Billion IoT Devices by 2025, a Drastic Decline from the Eye-Popping 1 Trillion Predicted in 2012; Everactive Infographic Illustrates Decline in Predictions, Points to Battery Life as Contributing Factor.
Everactive today released a new infographic titled “Why are Internet of Things (IoT) Expectations Shrinking?”
Today’s Experts Predict 25 Billion IoT Devices by 2025, a Drastic Decline from the Eye-Popping 1 Trillion Predicted in 2012; PsiKick Infographic Illustrates Decline in Predictions, Points to Battery Life as Contributing Factor
The infographic, available for download here, highlights the drastic decline in the number of IoT devices expected by leading technology and research firms—starting with IBM’s prediction of 1 trillion connected devices by 2015, then Cisco’s revised forecast of 50 billion devices by 2020, and most recently, GSMA’s prediction of a mere 25 billion IoT devices by 2025.
Everactive, which last month debuted its self-powered Steam Trap Monitor (STM)—a solution that utilizes the heat of a steam system itself to power sensors that continuously analyze steam traps to detect real-time failure—hypothesizes in the infographic that the reason the number of IoT devices continues to fall short of expectations is due to our continued reliance on batteries to power these devices. Thinking through the logistical and financial implications of replacing batteries on such a monumental scale, it becomes clear that batteries cannot support the IoT ecosystem envisioned by these leading firms.
913 Million Battery Changes Per Day
The infographic explores the implications of battery replacements in a trillion-sensor world considering the “best-case” scenario of achieving 10-year battery lifespans, as well as a more realistic scenario of three-year average battery life. The numbers are staggering – 274 million battery replacements per day with a “best-case” 10-year lifespan or 913 million battery replacements per day with a three-year lifespan.
“Exploring the battery problem in a trillion-sensor world is overwhelming, but even putting it into the perspective of an industrial environment with just 10,000 sensors, that’s still nearly 3,333 battery replacements each year,” said Brian Alessi, Director of Product Marketing at Everactive. “In many cases, the additional labor cost alone of monitoring and replacing batteries begins to eclipse the benefits of the wireless sensors themselves.”
Leveraging groundbreaking semiconductor design technology developed by researchers at both the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia, Everactive’s mission is to solve the battery problem with a suite of maintenance-free, self-powered sensing systems.
“Customers are excited to deploy IoT sensors to solve a problem until they realize it creates another one – battery replacements. We believe the battery to be a major contributing factor to why IoT device predictions have not been met,” said Bob Nunn, CEO of Everactive. “Sensors that power themselves entirely by harvested energy, like our Steam Trap Monitor, are a game-changer that enable businesses to truly harness the power of the Internet of Things, while saving time and money that would have been wasted on batteries.”