As the world becomes increasingly “connected”, spending on the internet of things, or “IoT”, has also risen in lock step as it becomes entrenched in many aspects of human endeavour.
The term “internet of things” refers to a growing trend for every day “things” to be monitored, tracked, accessed or controlled via the internet.
Market intelligence provider IDC has predicted that global IoT spending will jump by 15.4% from USD$646 billion in 2018 to USD$745b this year. It is expected to maintain a double digit annual growth rate before surpassing the USD$1 trillion mark by 2022.
The growth of IoT is due in no small part to businesses waking up to the fact that IoT can not only provide cost savings but also provide improved data for decisions, track assets and automate business processes.
ASX-listed Connected IO is looking to tap into this ever-growing market with its range of modem-like wireless devices that provide users with the ability to control or monitor a variety of different “things” remotely over the internet in a wide array of commercial operations.
The company has already made a grab for its piece of the pie with total cash receipts of AUD$560,000 in the second quarter of the 2019 financial year up 26% over the previous quarter.
About 80% came from existing customers, the majority of which have been re-ordering Connected IO’s products for over 12 months.
It also has accrued revenues of AUD$431,959, which are expected to convert to customer cash receipts in the current quarter.
Connected IO continues to strengthen further its collaboration with major US mobile operators Verizon and AT&T, who are both introducing the company and its products to their clients.
These partnerships offer the Perth listed junior tech player a potential pipeline of further orders in the 2019 calendar year and this is reflected in the purchase orders worth AUD$1.3 million that Connected IO has received to date.
The purchase orders exclude the company’s customer cash receipts and accrued revenues and are expected to convert to customer cash receipts before the end of the 2019 financial year.
Connected IO manufactures modem-like devices that connect a plethora of things such as vending machines and kiosks to the internet, to name just a two.
The company is also looking to expand further into the “white-labelled” products segment, which involves placing customers branding on its products.
Connected IO expects white-labelling to exceed 50% of its share of business in the second half of the 2019 calendar year, up from the current share of about 30% of revenues.
With Cisco projecting that there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020, Connected IO appears to be in the right spot at the right time.
By Matt Birney
