Consumer IoT Market Surge: 2023 Outlook, Tech Innovations & Global Growth Trends

Sachin Garg of MarketsandMarkets discusses the rapid expansion of consumer IoT across smart homes, healthcare, and consumer electronics. The sector was valued at US$46.8 billion (€41.3 billion) in 2018 and is projected to reach US$104.4 billion (€92.1 billion) by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 17.39 % from 2018 to 2023.

Key growth drivers include the surge in internet users, rising smart‑device adoption, increasing fitness awareness, higher disposable incomes in emerging markets, consumer demand for convenience and lifestyle upgrades, and the growing need for remote home monitoring. Government mandates on IoT security further reinforce market momentum, according to Sachin Garg, Associate Vice President, Emerging Technologies at MarketsandMarkets.

The consumer IoT landscape is rapidly evolving, with firms launching end‑to‑end solutions. In February 2018, Qualcomm Technologies unveiled IoT development kits built on the QCA4020 and QCA4024 SoCs, targeting applications from smart cities and toys to home control, appliances, networking, and entertainment. These kits support multiple wireless standards, protocols, and cloud integrations, enabling seamless device interoperability.

Solutions—primarily software and platforms—are expected to lead the market’s fastest CAGR during the forecast period. As connected device counts soar, data volumes swell, creating demand for advanced data‑management tools. Companies adopting IoT data‑management software aim to gain competitive advantages through predictive analytics and operational optimization. Concurrently, the proliferation of interconnected devices heightens cyber‑attack risks, spurring demand for sophisticated security solutions.

Home automation stands out as the fastest‑growing segment between 2018 and 2024. Growing consumer demand for remote monitoring, combined with increased adoption of security, HVAC, and energy‑management devices, drives this expansion. Enhanced internet penetration and the quest for a more convenient lifestyle also fuel market growth.

APAC is projected to deliver the highest CAGR worldwide from 2018 to 2024. Factors such as expanding internet coverage in residential areas, a large consumer base, rapid urbanization, rising disposable incomes, and improving IT infrastructure underpin this surge. China, India, and Japan are investing heavily in R&D to accelerate IoT adoption, which will further boost demand for hardware and software solutions.

Under China’s 13th Five‑Year Plan (2016–2020), the country has prioritized infrastructure, service platforms, and key IoT applications. International giants are also expanding in India; for example, Vodafone (UK) announced an NB‑IoT rollout in October 2017, focusing on the consumer IoT segment as part of its growth strategy.

The author is Sachin Garg, Associate Vice President, Emerging Technologies at MarketsandMarkets.