IoT development spans billions of connected devices, embedded operating systems, industrial protocols, edge workloads, and security controls. GSMA counted 19.1 billion IoT connections worldwide in 2023 and forecast 37.4 billion by 2030, while developer surveys show connectivity and security remain central engineering concerns.
Table of contents
- Global IoT connection scale
- Platforms and developer choices
- Industries driving IoT development
- Connectivity and protocols
- Edge workloads and delivery challenges
- Security priorities
- Enterprise and household adoption
Global IoT connection scale
The size of the connected-device market defines the environment in which IoT software is designed, tested, deployed, and maintained. The numbers differ by methodology: GSMA reports total IoT connections, while IoT Analytics reports connected IoT devices. They should therefore be read as separate measures rather than combined into one total.
According to GSMA’s IoT for Development: Use cases delivering impact, total IoT connections reached 15.1 billion worldwide in 2021 and 19.1 billion in 2023. GSMA forecast 20.9 billion connections for 2024, 23.2 billion for 2025, and 37.4 billion for 2030. The 2024, 2025, and 2030 figures are forecasts, not measured totals.
GSMA Intelligence’s 2023 estimate split the market almost evenly between enterprise and consumer use: 10.7 billion enterprise IoT connections compared with 10.5 billion consumer connections. Its forecast put enterprise IoT at 38.5 billion connections by 2030. This points to a development landscape where industrial and commercial systems are at least as important as household devices.
IoT Analytics reported 16.6 billion connected IoT devices at the end of 2023, up 15% from 2022. It forecast 18.8 billion devices by the end of 2024, a 13% annual increase, and roughly 40 billion connected IoT devices by 2030. These figures come from State of IoT 2024: Number of connected IoT devices growing 13% to 18.8 billion globally. The different totals from GSMA and IoT Analytics reflect different definitions and counting approaches.
| Measure | Reported or forecast value | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total IoT connections | 19.1 billion | 2023 | GSMA |
| Connected IoT devices | 16.6 billion | End of 2023 | IoT Analytics |
| Total IoT connections | 37.4 billion forecast | 2030 | GSMA |
| Connected IoT devices | Roughly 40 billion forecast | 2030 | IoT Analytics |
Platforms and developer choices
Platform decisions affect boot processes, memory use, device drivers, update mechanisms, observability, and the tooling available to teams writing embedded software. In the 2024 Eclipse IoT and Embedded Developer Survey, Embedded Linux was the leading platform choice, reported by 46% of respondents. FreeRTOS followed at 29%, Zephyr at 21%, and ThreadX at 13%.
Open source was a broad part of the development picture: 75% of developers said they actively use open-source technology. Committers represented 24% of respondents, indicating that a substantial minority participate directly in the communities behind the technologies they use. These are survey results from 2024 and describe respondents’ reported choices, not the entire IoT developer population.
Safety and security requirements also shape platform selection. In the same survey, 47% of developers prioritised safety certifications such as IEC 61508 and ISO 26262. Communication security was cited by 40% as a security strategy, while 32% cited over-the-air updates. For C programmers working close to hardware, these figures underline why portable code, predictable memory behaviour, update-safe architecture, and clear interfaces matter beyond initial device bring-up.
Industries driving IoT development
Industrial automation has been the strongest application focus in the supplied Eclipse survey results. It was the top focus area for 33% of respondents in 2023 and 34% in 2024, making it the only area with a directly comparable one-point increase in the available figures.
The 2023 Eclipse IoT and Edge Developer Survey reported agriculture at 29%. Building automation, energy management, and smart cities each reached 24%. These areas require software that can connect sensors and actuators reliably while handling intermittent networks, operational constraints, and long service lives.
The 2024 survey reported automotive applications at 29%, environmental monitoring at 23%, and healthcare applications at 18%. The categories are not necessarily exclusive, so the percentages should not be added to estimate a market share. They show where survey respondents said their work was focused during each measurement year.
For developers building C-based components, the application mix changes the engineering emphasis. Industrial automation raises control and determinism concerns; automotive work brings safety requirements; environmental monitoring increases the importance of low-power sensing and remote operation; and healthcare applications make reliability, data handling, and security especially consequential.
Connectivity and protocols
Connectivity is not a single design choice. Devices may use local or short-range networks, non-cellular wide-area technologies, or licensed cellular services depending on coverage, power, bandwidth, and operating conditions.
GSMA estimated that non-cellular technologies represented 86% of IoT device connections in 2021. It forecast licensed cellular IoT connections in its focus regions to reach 156 million by 2030. GSMA also projected that Asia Pacific would add 12.2 billion IoT connections between 2020 and 2030. The regional figure is a forecast for that period, not a current global count.
Messaging choices are equally important. MQTT was preferred for industrial IoT communications by 49% of respondents in the 2023 Eclipse survey. MQTT combined with Sparkplug was preferred by 8%. In 2024, MQTT adoption reached 56% in the Eclipse IoT and Embedded Developer Survey. Eclipse Zenoh reached 4.29% adoption in 2024, up from 1.79% in 2023.
The 2023 Eclipse results also recorded cellular connectivity adoption at 44%, compared with 22% in 2022, and Wi-Fi connectivity at 38%. The cellular comparison covers two survey years; it does not establish the causes of the change. Protocol libraries and network abstractions therefore remain practical parts of embedded development, alongside the device logic itself.
Edge workloads and delivery challenges
Edge computing keeps some processing near sensors, machines, gateways, or other endpoints. In the 2023 Eclipse survey, control logic was the most common edge-computing workload at 40% of respondents. Artificial intelligence was identified as an edge workload by 37%.
The same survey found that software supply-chain security was considered vital by 70% of respondents. This connects application design with the provenance of libraries, build inputs, firmware packages, and update artifacts. A device may run a small C program, but its delivered system can still depend on a much wider chain of components and services.
In the 2024 Eclipse survey, connectivity was a top concern for 48% of respondents and security for 35%. Data analytics was a challenge for 24%, as was deployment. These percentages identify reported concerns, not failure rates. They suggest that IoT development work extends beyond writing firmware: teams must also operate networks, move data, deploy at scale, and maintain systems after release.
Security priorities
Security controls appear at several layers of an IoT product. In the 2024 Eclipse survey, communication security was cited by 40% of respondents, over-the-air updates by 32%, and secure boot by 19%. Safety certifications were prioritised by 47%, showing that product assurance can involve both security and functional-safety requirements.
Arm’s 2023 connected-security survey reported that businesses spent 15.3% more on security-related areas than in 2022. Arm also reported that 51% of surveyed companies planned to upskill their teams in IoT security during the following year. The spending comparison describes 2023 against 2022, while the training figure describes a plan for the subsequent year; neither should be read as a universal industry total.
For embedded teams, the reported priorities translate into concrete implementation areas: authenticated communications, protected boot paths, update verification, key handling, and recovery behaviour. The figures do not specify which architecture is best for every product, but they show that security work is part of delivery planning rather than an isolated post-development task.
Enterprise and household adoption
Adoption data shows where IoT development reaches users and organisations. Eurostat’s Use of Internet of Things in enterprises reported that 29% of EU enterprises with at least 10 employees or self-employed persons used IoT devices or systems in 2021. Usage varied by enterprise size: 26% among small enterprises, 37% among medium enterprises, and 48% among large enterprises.
By sector, IoT use reached 46% in EU electricity, gas, steam, air-conditioning, and water-supply enterprises in 2021. It reached 36% in accommodation and 34% in information and communication enterprises. Among EU enterprises using IoT, 72% used it to secure premises, while 30% used smart meters or lights to manage energy consumption.
| EU adoption measure | Share | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprises using IoT | 29% | 2021 |
| Small enterprises using IoT | 26% | 2021 |
| Medium enterprises using IoT | 37% | 2021 |
| Large enterprises using IoT | 48% | 2021 |
| IoT-using enterprises securing premises | 72% | 2021 |
| IoT-using enterprises managing energy with smart meters or lights | 30% | 2021 |
Household-facing devices also expanded in the EU. Eurostat reported in Growing importance of internet-connected devices that 52% of people aged 16–74 used an internet-connected TV in 2022, up from 43% in 2020. Smart-wearable use reached 26% in 2022, up from 17% in 2020. These measurements concern people in the specified age range and geography, and they complement rather than replace enterprise IoT data.