Berg Insight report: 6.1M cargo tracking devices installed in 2018

Tracking devices deployed for cargo loading units reached 6.1 million worldwide in 2018, according to Internet of Things (IoT) market research provider Berg Insight.

A research report released in May estimates that, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.3%, this number to reach 20.4 million by 2023.

The market research firm said cargo loading units include trailers, intermodal containers, rail freight wagons, air cargo containers, cargo boxes and pallets. 

So far, trailer telematics is the most developed market today, followed by tracking devices for general cargo applications and intermodal containers. However, the markets for rail freight wagon and air freight cargo tracking, while considerably smaller, are expected to grow substantially in the next five years.  

“The total market value for trailer and cargo container tracking solutions reached at the same time an estimated € 857 million in 2018. The market for remote tracking solutions for cargo containers has entered a period of healthy growth that will continue for several years. Growing at a CAGR of 16.3%, the total market value is forecasted to reach € 1.8 billion in 2023,” the report noted.

Berg Insight ranks ORBCOMM, a global provider of industrial IoT and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication solutions, as the largest vendor of tracking solutions for cargo loading units.

In the first quarter of 2019, the American multinational reported revenues of $66 million. Its intermodal container telematics solution, the CT 3000, has been recognized by the 17th Annual American Business Awards (ABA) with a 2019 Gold Stevie Award in the New Transportation Products category. 

Other leading players in North American trailer telematics market include SkyBitz, Omnitracs, Spireon and I.D. Systems, according to Berg Insight.

On the market for container tracking solutions, it said the three major vendors are Malaysia-based Envotech and Sierra Wireless and Geoforce based in the US. 

“Today’s telematics solutions generate an increasing amount of data on the status and location of cargo and cargo loading units,” commented Martin Bäckman, IoT Analyst at Berg Insight. “Along with the development of more capable tracking solutions, low-end solutions are becoming increasingly affordable.”