Cellular IoT market update 2026: Connections grew 13% in 2025, slowest since 2020

2026-04-29 · Source: IoT Analytics · Field: Technology & Digital — Internet of Things (IoT) & Connected Devices, Emerging Technologies & Innovation · Depth: Intermediate, short

Summary

The global cellular IoT market experienced its slowest growth since 2020, with connections increasing by 13.3% to 4.7 billion in 2025, primarily due to a slowdown in China. NB-IoT emerged as the leading technology by shipment volume at 33.5%, while 5G, 4G, and LTE-Cat 1 bis led in revenue share. Mobile network operators collectively generated \$20.8 billion from cellular IoT connections, with China Mobile securing 17% of global revenue. Quectel dominated cellular IoT module vendors with 34% revenue share, and Qualcomm led chipset suppliers with 73%. Projections indicate cellular IoT connections will reach 5.4 billion in 2026 and exceed 9 billion by 2030, driven by a "two-track growth phase." This phase sees NB-IoT and LTE Cat 1 bis supporting high-volume, cost-sensitive applications, while 5G and its variants cater to premium, higher-bandwidth use cases. Future expansion will necessitate enhanced local processing, security, and AI inference at the device level.

Key takeaway

For CTOs and Product Managers developing IoT solutions, recognize the cellular IoT market's two-track growth. Your strategy should balance high-volume, cost-sensitive NB-IoT/LTE Cat 1 bis applications with premium 5G/RedCap offerings. Prepare for a hardware upgrade cycle by integrating local processing, enhanced security, and AI inference at the device level. This approach will reduce cloud dependency and improve responsiveness, positioning your products for future value.

Key insights

Cellular IoT growth slowed in 2025, shifting to a two-track market driven by low-power volume and high-bandwidth revenue.

Principles

• Market growth can be significantly impacted by regional dynamics.
• Technology leadership varies by volume versus revenue metrics.
• Future IoT value shifts to edge processing and security.

In practice

• Monitor regional market dynamics for growth shifts.
• Differentiate technology strategies for volume vs. revenue.
• Integrate edge computing and AI for future IoT devices.

Topics

• Cellular IoT Market
• NB-IoT Technology
• 5G IoT
• IoT Modules
• Edge AI
• Market Dynamics

Best for: VP of Engineering/Data, Director of AI/ML, AI Architect, Executive, CTO, Product Manager

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by IoT Analytics.