The GSMA has issued a clear warning to operators: by 2025, connectivity will represent only about 5% of the total IoT revenue opportunity, meaning operators must pursue additional revenue streams.
New research from GSMA Intelligence projects the global IoT market will reach approximately $1.1 trillion in revenue by 2025. This growth reflects a structural shift from a focus on connectivity alone toward platforms, applications, and services that deliver greater value.
Driven by expanding Industrial IoT deployments, the total number of IoT connections—both cellular and non-cellular—is expected to exceed 25 billion by 2025. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is forecast to become the largest global IoT market, leading in both connections and revenue.
Although connectivity revenues are predicted to increase in absolute terms, they will make up only roughly 5% of total IoT revenues. That imbalance creates strong incentives for operators to broaden their offerings beyond basic connectivity if they want to capture a larger share of market value. Many operators are already responding by establishing dedicated IoT business units and new service lines to address end-to-end customer needs.
Platforms, applications, and managed services will account for the largest portion of IoT revenue growth. GSMA Intelligence anticipates this segment will represent about 68% of total IoT revenue by 2025. Professional services—such as system integration, managed services, and consulting—are expected to account for the remaining roughly 27% share, reflecting the expertise required to deploy, integrate, and operate complex IoT solutions.
Earlier this month, a separate GSMA report examined how mobile IoT technologies will be integral to the broader 5G ecosystem. Mobile IoT primarily refers to Low-Power Wide-Area (LPWA) technologies such as NB-IoT and LTE-M, which are central to the development of “massive IoT”—one of three core 5G use cases alongside critical communications and enhanced mobile broadband.
Mobile IoT networks are well suited to large-scale, low-data, long-life deployments like smart meters, connected logistics, and environmental monitoring. Standards developed by 3GPP ensure support for these low-cost, low-power applications, enabling long battery lives and reliable operation in remote or hard-to-reach locations.
As the IoT market matures, operators that expand beyond connectivity into platforms, software, systems integration, and professional services will be best positioned to capture the majority of the emerging $1.1 trillion opportunity.