Key Points:
- The Internet of Things (IoT) market is forecast to grow to 29 billion connected devices globally by 2030, creating demand for IoT platforms, software and services.
- Leading tech giants like Apple, Google, Microsoft and others are investing billions into IoT technology and offerings.
- We break down the 10 largest IoT companies worldwide by 2022 annual revenue along with their key products and services enabling the Internet of Things.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the most transformative technological shifts underway today. IoT refers to the growing network of connected “smart” devices and objects that can collect and exchange data via embedded sensors and the internet.
Analyst firm IDC predicts there will be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices generating 79.4 zettabytes of data in 2025 alone. With this massive growth in connected devices, all manner of everyday consumer products, industrial equipment, vehicles, appliances and more are getting “smarter”.
In turn, this is also creating enormous demand for IoT platforms, software and services to manage all these connected endpoints. It’s no surprise then that major technology companies are making big bets in the IoT space.
In this article, we break down the 10 largest IoT companies in the world measured by their 2022 annual revenue. For each company, we’ll overview their key products and services that enable the Internet of Things across both consumer and enterprise use cases.
#10 – SAP – $27.84 Billion
SAP is a multinational software corporation founded in 1972 and headquartered in Germany. While best known for its enterprise software for managing business operations and customer relationships, SAP has been expanding its presence in the IoT market.
Key IoT offerings from SAP include:
- SAP IoT Edge: Platform for managing IoT edge gateways and cloud integration.
- SAP Leonardo IoT: End-to-end solution spanning IoT devices, connectivity, data management and analytics.
- SAP Asset Intelligence Network: Asset monitoring solution optimized for industrial equipment.
These solutions help enterprise customers across industries extract value from IoT device data, better manage remote assets, and automate operational tasks. For instance, utility company Ista uses the SAP Leonardo IoT platform combined with smart meter connectivity to enable real-time monitoring of heat and water consumption.
#9 – Cisco – $51.56 Billion
The networking infrastructure giant Cisco offers a range of products designed specifically for unlocking the potential of the Internet of Things.
Key Cisco IoT solutions include:
- Cisco IoT Control Center: Cloud management platform for managing IoT devices and applications.
- Cisco Edge Intelligence: Enables distributed analytics on networked edge devices such as routers.
- Cisco Kinetic IoT Data Platform: For ingesting, normalizing and contextualizing IoT data at the edge.
For example, Cisco’s technology powers Avnet’s IoTConnect platform. This allows Avnet‘s enterprise customers to securely onboard, provision and manage various IoT devices through a single pane of glass admin portal.
Cisco also continues to innovate with new industrial routers, switches, sensors and gateways purpose-built for the scale and performance demands of IoT in smart factories.
#8 – Siemens – $67.38 Billion
The industrial manufacturing giant Siemens also provides an end-to-end technology stack enabling the Internet of Things for the enterprise.
Among Siemens’ IoT offerings are:
- Siemens MindSphere: Cloud-based open IoT operating system allowing enterprises to connect products, plants, systems and machines for advanced analytics.
- Siemens SIMATIC: Range of industrial automation systems such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and rugged IoT gateways.
- Siemens Opcenter: Manufacturing operations management software integrating IoT data from shop floor machines/devices.
For instance, food and beverage leaders leverage Siemens’ IoT capabilities to monitor their production lines in real-time. This helps quickly identify anomalies allowing issues to be proactively addressed. Siemens IoT-enabled machines can also predict when preventative maintenance is needed, minimizing downtime.
#7 – Bosch IoT Suite – $78.74 Billion
While best known for its automotive components and home appliances, the German engineering giant Bosch also provides enterprise-grade IoT software and services.
The Bosch IoT Suite is an end-to-end solution including:
- Access My Device: Cloud-based platform for connecting and remotely managing IoT endpoints.
- Bosch IoT Hub: For messaging and event processing between IoT devices/apps.
- Bosch IoT Things: Web dashboard for monitoring connected devices.
- Bosch IoT Insights: Analytics for predictive maintenance and process optimization.
With over 15 million devices/machines already connected, the Bosch IoT Suite helps industrial customers improve production monitoring, asset utilization, quality control and more.
#6 – IBM – $60.53 Billion
IBM provides another major cloud platform tailored specifically for industrial IoT applications with IBM Watson IoT.
Key capabilities include:
- Device and connection management: Securely register and monitor IoT endpoints.
- Data collection and storage: Integrates with sensor data streams and moves IoT data to databases.
- Blockchain for IoT: Shared ledger technology to ensure integrity of IoT data transactions.
- AI and advanced analytics: Extracts insights from IoT device data to optimize operational decisions.
IBM Watson IoT helps enterprise customers across manufacturing, energy, construction and other industries harness IoT data to minimize unplanned downtime, improve quality, reduce costs and more.
#5 – Intel – $79.02 Billion
At the heart of many IoT solutions are the tiny but powerful semiconductors from Intel. The company’s Celeron, Pentium and Atom processing product lines are widely used in industrial PCs, automation controllers, gateways and embedded IoT platforms.
Intel is also advancing IoT growth across other fronts including:
- Edge solutions: Providing hardware and software for edge data centers to enable real-time analytics.
- Connectivity: Driving 5G and WiFi standards adoption critical for massive IoT scaling.
- AI accelerators: Chips purpose-built for speeding up machine learning essential for IoT data value extraction.
Intel technology can be found enabling IoT deployments across manufacturing, healthcare, retail, smart cities and more. This includes powering field robots leveraging computer vision and sensors for industrial inspection use cases.
#4 – Microsoft – $198.3 Billion
The software leader Microsoft provides one of the most widely-used IoT cloud platforms with Azure IoT.
Key capabilities:
- Connectivity: Securely connect and manage millions of IoT devices.
- Monitoring: Gain visibility into the status of devices.
- Analytics: Unlock insights from device telemetry.
- AI: Build predictive maintenance models to optimize operations.
- Serverless option: Scale massive IoT workloads without managing infrastructure.
Azure IoT can ingest data from popular industrial automation equipment via standard interfaces like OPC UA. This allows manufacturers leveraging programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and sensors to quickly implement connected factory solutions.
Azure IoT broadly supports consumer IoT applications as well with seamless integration capabilities for mobile, web and desktop apps accessing smart home and wearable devices.
#3 – Samsung Electronics – $244.4 Billion
Although Samsung may be most recognized for its smartphones, the tech conglomerate also produces a vast array of IoT-enabling hardware components spanning cameras, sensors, displays, memory, storage and more.
On the consumer side, Samsung’s SmartThings app allows owners of compatible smart home devices to control and automate actions across appliances, lighting, locks, outlets, sensors and security systems.
For enterprises, Samsung provides specialized offerings including:
- ARTIK IoT modules and sensors: For connecting equipment and gathering data.
- Exynos embedded processors: Powering local analytics on IoT gateways.
- Integrated Security Solution (ISS): Securing IoT device communications and data encryption.
Leveraging these Samsung technologies, retailers can gather real-time insights into customer traffic patterns to optimize staffing. Energy firms analyze smart meter data via gateways powered by Samsung chips to detect anomalies and reduce costs.
#2 – Google – $257.64 Billion
Being a dominant force in digital ads, search, smartphones and cloud computing, Google is primed to fuel exponential IoT growth.
Key offerings aiding IoT proliferation include:
- Cloud IoT Core: Fully-managed Google Cloud service to connect, manage, and ingest data from millions of globally dispersed devices.
- Edge TPU: Google designed ASIC chip delivering high-performance machine learning (ML) inferencing for IoT devices.
- Android OS: Massive embedded installed base across smartphones, watches, TVs, set-top boxes and more.
- AI expertise: Algorithms essential for extracting insights from IoT device data at scale.
Leveraging Google technology, healthcare providers gain better asset utilization across ventilators, imaging machines and other connected medical equipment via predictive analytics. This is helping them serve more patients at lower costs.
#1 – Apple – $394.3 Billion
Apple’s dominance across smartphones, tablets, personal computers, smartwatches and software has helped cultivate mainstream consumer adoption of IoT. And with nearly 1.8 billion active devices globally, Apple sits at the epicenter of the consumer IoT revolution.
Key innovations propelling Apple’s lead include:
- iOS ecosystem: Seamless out-of-the-box connectivity across iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches to enable smart homes and wearables.
- Apple HomeKit: Software framework allowing users to easily control IoT-enabled lights, locks, sensors, shades and other smart home devices.
- HealthKit APIs: Allowing health/fitness apps and hardware developers to tap into Apple Watch biometrics.
- AirTag item trackers: Leveraging Apple’s vast Find My network to locate personal belongings.
The company is also branching out into IoT offerings tailored for enterprises with partnerships announced in recent years targeting manufacturing and healthcare.
The Future of IoT is Wide Open
As this roundup illustrates, many of the world’s largest and most influential technology firms are placing major strategic bets across the Internet of Things ecosystem. And given IoT’s immense potential for unlocking productivity, optimizing operations, reducing costs and even saving lives – widespread adoption is inevitable.
We can expect the list of top IoT companies to continue evolving in the years ahead with aggressive moves by hyperscalers like Amazon Web Services. Plus there remains enormous greenfield opportunities for nimble IoT pure plays focusing on ever more specialized vertical applications across autonomous robotics, connected healthcare, smart cities and more.
But one thing is clear – with IoT poised to permeate nearly every facet of our economy and society, the stakes have never been higher for businesses to embrace connected devices and the data they generate. Those failing to adopt IoT solutions risk losing competitive ground as this next major computing wave reshapes entire industries.