e-SIM enabled smartphones are gaining momentum gradually and telecom operators in India like Airtel, Jio is also offering the same. In similar lines, today, Counterpoint Research Analysis has released a new report regarding the global shipments of e-SIM based devices and it also includes their findings of a potential rise in the adoption of integrated SIM-based solutions.
According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s ETO (Emerging Technology Opportunities) Service, the shipments of e-SIM based devices is said to reach nearly 2 billion units by 2025 up from 364 million in 2018 and the main reason for it is said to be smartphones and enterprise IoT devices. The findings also reveal that a majority of eSIM-based devices will have a hardware chip based eSIM solution until 2025, and after that, there will be a rise in the adoption of integrated SIM-based solutions.
The report also indicates that in terms of shipment volumes, smartphones and B2B IoT devices will lead. Major OEMs like Apple, Google are adopting eSIM on their smartphones and this is said to drive the major volume growth and as there is a smaller base of adoption of connected devices like mobile hotspots, routers, etc, it is said to grow at a higher Compound annual growth rate.
Commenting on this, Satyajit Sinha, Counterpoint Research Analyst, said:
The growth of eSIMs will revolutionize how the connectivity across the devices will be activated and managed. The eSIM’s compact form factor offers significant space reduction for device manufacturers along with potentially higher security, re-programmability, and power efficiencies over the traditional SIM card solutions. For operators, eSIMs can significantly reduce the SIM distribution and activation costs while the potential to generate higher roaming revenues. Furthermore, eSIM offers great benefits for consumers and enterprise customers to seamlessly choose, activate, connect, and manage connectivity on their devices.
Research Director, Neil Shah said
Automotive and enterprise IoT devices will continue to remain high on the eSIM adoption curve in the future. Further, the eSIM activation rate in cellular enterprise IoT devices will also be much higher than consumer IoT devices. Key drivers being fragmented deployments, module space savings, robust tamper-proof security, flexibility in choosing the best available and competitive cellular network seamlessly as well as saving significantly on physical provisioning, and maintenance costs.