Companies such as Google, Samsung, CISCO, Intel and Qualcomm have helped to double the number of Internet of Things acquisitions from 2013, according to research data from 451 Research.
Brian Partridge Vice President of 451 Research’s mobility team said: "Acquirers don’t want to cede anything to a growing list of competitors as demand for IoT services in both consumer and industrial markets builds."
Partidge added: "We expect to see even more activity in 2015 as the cost and risk hurdles to IoT adoption are overcome and the competition to serve these markets increases. Any firm with the strategic intention of being an IT infrastructure and services leader over the next 10 years does not have the option to ignore this market."
The acquisitions by Google of Nest Labs, the Home Automation and Control Company, for $3.2bn in January and the subsequent acquisition by Nest Labs of Dropcam for $555m in June were the largest of the year.
Google and Samsung viewed the connected home as logical extensions of their respective positions of strength, with Samsung CEO BK Yoon stating that their vision is for all Samsung hardware to be IoT by 2020 at the CES conference.
Intel also spent big in 2013, acquiring BASIS Science who operates in the wearable technology market for $100m in March, building on their quest to become a dominant supplier in key parts of the value stack for IoT in both consumer and industrial segments.
A new competitor to SAP, IBM and Oracle emerged with PTC’s deal for Axeda in March for $170m. This deal provides a lens into the changing competitive dynamics for making products smart.
