Ericsson's M2M Ambitions
With this M2M move, Ericsson takes another step toward its forecast of 50 billion connected devices in 2020, which it announced in February this year when it launched its own M2M services on its Device Connection Platform. (See Ericsson Launches M2M Service.)
Financial details were not disclosed, but with this acquisition Ericsson will gain the M2M platform that Telenor Connexion developed in 2009, a Web-based service portal, network nodes and know-how, including 11 employees.
Telenor Connexion will also be the first customer of Ericsson's Device Connection Platform, which it sells to operators in a software-as-a-service model. By selling its platform to Ericsson, the company will be freed up to focus on adding value to the M2M services that it provides.
Some of the companies that have used the Telenor Connexion platform and managed M2M services include Omron, Nissan, TomTom International BV and Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM).
— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Light Reading Mobile
I mean, you can use M2M to tell when bananas will go bad -- if looking doesn't work. But, really, it's crazy how big the market for connectivity will be. Some device categories are already at 100 percent or are getting close. iSuppli says M2M connectivity in devices was at 1% in 2002 and will be 28% by 2015.