Parks Associates' Jennifer Kent was interviewed on RCR Wireless News about the shift in the M2M marketplace from B2B to B2C.  

 

The M2M market has been predominately a tool for B2B relations in the past, but that is swiftly changing.  Consumers, in addition to businesses, are now presented with more and more opportunities to take advantage of these type of interactions.

 

Jennifer provides three key examples of where consumers are directly experiencing the M2M experience, the first of which is the Amazon Kindle.  The Kindle employs cellular radio services within the device rather than simply using Wi-Fi which other e-readers employ.  The second example is the rise of the connected car.  Currently 33 percent of cars have cellular embedded capability, and Parks Associates predicts that 50 percent of cars will have this capability by 2017.   The third example, and one yet to be fully utilized according to Jennifer, is healthcare.  The demand for wireless monitoring devices and other technologies like it will continue to rise as people look to lower costs by transitioning away from health facilities  and moving to the home to cut costs.

 

Three main business models come out of this transition to the consumer marketplace, says Jennifer.  In the first, like the Amazon Kindle, the consumer doesn't need a data plan, and the connectivity price is included in the price of the device.  In the second business model,  a data plan is needed to provide the extra connected services, but the payment is made to the manufacturer of the device (Garmin devices are a prime example.)  Finally, the third business model is one where a data plan is necessary, but the payment is made to the operator rather than the manufacturer.  

Jennifer and Parks Associates predict that the use of M2M in the consumer market is likely to increase significantly.

 

To watch the interview, click here.

 

For more information on Parks Associates M2M research, click here.