Industry Observation: The Internet of Things is the foundation for building a digital economy

This year’s Internet of Things exhibition theme “IoT – Building the Base of the Digital Economy” directly and clearly points out the value of the Internet of Things in the digital economy era, that is, the Internet of Things, as a technical means, has become the basis for building the digital economy; the development of the digital economy , cannot be separated from the empowerment of the important chassis of Internet of Things technology. The value of the Internet of Things industry, which has been developed for more than ten years, has been questioned many times. Now that it has embarked on the wave of digital economy and digital transformation, it has been given new value expectations, which has also injected a shot in the development of the Internet of Things industry. cardiac.

This year is the first exhibition after the epidemic is completely relaxed. Compared with previous years, the number of visitors has increased significantly, and everyone's expectations for the future of the industry can also be felt at the scene. As a veteran who has worked in the field of Internet of Things for more than ten years, I sincerely hope that the Internet of Things industry can continue to flourish and enter a new period of development.

Different from the previous exhibitions to see new things and seek cooperation, this time I tried to make some observations and thoughts on the Internet of Things industry from an overall industry perspective. The following are some points that I deeply felt at the scene, and I would like to share them with you:

1. The Internet of Things industry chain is already very complete The key links of the Internet of Things industry involve chips, communication modules, terminals, platforms, applications, etc., and there is a relatively complete and clear industrial chain structure. Among the manufacturers participating in this exhibition, a large number of manufacturers participated in every link. If you want to find supporting suppliers for a certain link, or seek overall solutions for the industry, this is the right time to visit this exhibition. It is no exaggeration to say that after more than ten years of development, the domestic Internet of Things industry has formed a complete industrial chain, is also obviously competitive internationally, and is far ahead in some aspects.

2. The Internet of Things industry chain is gradually becoming standardized. After years of technical melee and application exploration, IoT application scenarios have gradually matured, and the construction solutions involved have gradually been standardized and unified into standards. For example, the Matter communication protocol in the consumer Internet of Things enables devices from various manufacturers to be fully interconnected, standardizes the market for smart home devices, and brings more flexible choices to consumers. The country and some industry associations are also promulgating IoT-related standards, covering everything from underlying technology to industry applications. These standards will provide professional guidance for the construction of IoT projects. For example, the Shenzhen Internet of Things Association, the organizer of this Internet of Things Exhibition, has also released some white papers, which are of great help in in-depth understanding of the applications of the Internet of Things industry.

3. The Internet of Things industry chain has seen significant involution The IoT industry chain is very clearly layered, generally divided into perception layer, network layer, platform layer and application layer. The technology used in each tier varies greatly, and each tier has some core players. In the early stages of industry development, everyone cooperated with each other and each specialized in his or her own part of the industry. But things are different now. Everyone is beginning to expand to the upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. For example, those who used to focus on selling communication modules are now also making complete terminal equipment; those who used to focus on terminal equipment are now providing platforms; those who used to focus on platform, now we are starting to provide application solutions for vertical industries. To sum up in one sentence, everyone is moving closer to the end user value side, moving from the upper level of the industrial chain to the next level, and developing new businesses. Competition will become increasingly fierce, and there may also be some strong integration of the industrial chain by some large companies, but I still hope to leave some room for small and medium-sized enterprises to survive. After all, IoT application scenarios are mostly customized, and large companies will The customized response is not as timely as that of small and medium-sized enterprises.

4. Digital transformation has become a catalyst for the development of the Internet of Things In response to the theme of this exhibition, the promotional posters at many booths highlighted themselves as an important part of the digital transformation of the industry. Whether it is smart sensors, network communication equipment, data platforms, or application solutions, they are all leveraging the trend of industry digital transformation to position their value in the digital economy era. Indeed, the Internet of Things has been developed for more than ten years, and its important value has truly been highlighted in the era of digital economy, and industry chain players have more expectations. Digital transformation cannot be separated from data. Where does data come from? More than 70% of scenarios are realized with the help of IoT technology.

5. The industry application trend of IoT is more focused on ToB and ToG According to the industry objects it serves or empowers, the Internet of Things can be divided into consumer Internet of Things, industrial Internet of Things, and public Internet of Things. The largest market for consumer IoT is smart homes. Due to factors such as the real estate recession and sluggish consumption, the domestic consumer IoT market demand has slowed down. Industry chain players are focusing more on more deterministic industries and the public Internet of Things, especially in the directions of industrial Internet of Things and smart cities. Among the exhibitors this time, the majority are serving industrial IoT and public IoT, which mainly involve ToB and ToG businesses.

6. Basic R&D and application innovation need further breakthroughs From an application perspective, although the domestic industrial chain is relatively complete, most of the underlying technologies and key chips and other components are controlled by foreign countries. Some technologies have not yet shown good application effects, such as wireless ad hoc networks, satellite Internet of Things and other technologies. application. The application scenarios and solutions on display are still relatively traditional and mature industry applications, with relatively few innovative applications. Although there are some breakthroughs in China, after in-depth communication, some are still in the experimental stage, some cannot meet the needs of innovative applications, and the publicity is too advanced.

7. The technology proactive integration capabilities of the Internet of Things industry need to be improved Big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies are mostly developed based on Internet of Things technology. In this process, big data artificial intelligence companies have higher technical capabilities, and it is easier to integrate Internet of Things technologies with slightly lower technical difficulties. However, it is more difficult for traditional Internet of Things companies to transform and upgrade to big data artificial intelligence companies, mainly due to the lack of more professional staffing. Therefore, in the era of artificial intelligence, IoT companies are more in an integrated role and have less say. This is also the bottleneck that most IoT companies currently encounter in their development. The above are some thoughts on this International Internet of Things Exhibition. I hope it will be of some reference value for everyone to understand the current situation of the Internet of Things industry. If you are interested, please follow this public account for further communication. We will continue to share our observations and thoughts on the trends, technologies, applications, construction and other aspects of the Internet of Things industry.