The global spending on asset tracking by enterprises will increase from $16 billion in 2022 to $45 billion in 2027, representing a substantial growth of 184%; a new study from Juniper Research has revealed.
According to the study, the growing availability and affordability of asset-tracking solutions will drive the adoption of managed services amongst the most prominent enterprises that operate their own supply chains for high-value assets. It also envisages that the most sought-after solutions will be those which can demonstrate a return on investment by minimising theft and loss of assets during transit.
The report forecasts that the number of assets tracked will reach 24 billion by 2027; increasing from only 8 billion in 2022. It urges asset-tracking platform providers to include real-time monitoring solutions leveraging multiple technologies, including 4G, 5G and GPS. Widely used today, GPS is a cost-effective technology, however, the comprehensive network capabilities of 4G and 5G must be implemented to monitor assets with the highest values.
Drivers: The management and security of high-value assets is becoming increasingly important for many stakeholders, and demand for technologies that provide real-time monitoring within the supply chain is ever more demanded.
Asset tracking in this context refers to systems that leverage wireless connectivity to remotely monitor assets’ locations, based on real-time data with the aim of better managing asset conditions.
5G Networks Needed for High-value Assets
The report predicts that this increasing reliance on 5G will present significant opportunities for hardware vendors over the next 5 years. It anticipates that the growing demand for ‘always connected’ supply chain solutions will drive the interest in 5G-enabled asset-tracking hardware. In turn, supply chain hardware vendors must focus development on sensors that leverage the data-intensive nature of 5G to provide features such as real-time anti-tampering notifications.