Key Takeaways

  • Berg Insight reported cellular IoT module shipments climbed to 612 million units in 2025, up 33% from 2024.
  • Major China-based vendors, including Quectel and Fibocom, expanded their volume leadership by capturing much of the rebound.
  • Memory price volatility is creating near-term pressure on 5G IoT modules, prompting vendors to adopt new pricing mechanisms.

After a period of sluggish demand tied to elevated inventories and cautious procurement, the market for cellular IoT modules rebounded in 2025. Berg Insight reported shipments reached 612 million units, a 33% jump from the prior year. Sales rose 19% to $5.6 billion, and momentum has carried into 2026. This uptick aligns with trends highlighted by IoT Analytics, which noted stronger 4G, NB-IoT, and LTE Cat-1 bis deployments.

Some of the rebound reflects simple normalization. Inventory overhangs that began forming in 2023 and worsened in 2024 finally cleared out, allowing purchasing cycles to return to a more predictable cadence. New national initiatives in markets such as Spain and China also provided fresh incentives for smart infrastructure rollouts. In a fragmented ecosystem like IoT, these national initiatives provide stable demand that helps vendors plan production accurately.

The wider IoT module market reached approximately $25.6 billion in 2025, according to Polaris Market Research. Operators generated $20.8 billion in IoT connectivity revenue during the same period, according to IoT Analytics. These figures reflect active enterprise expansion across smart metering, asset tracking, fleet telematics, industrial automation, and low-power sensor deployments.

However, memory pricing has introduced cost volatility. High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) capacity is flowing toward AI servers and data center workloads, leaving some module manufacturers exposed. This effect is particularly visible in 5G IoT modules, which require advanced DRAM and heavier memory configurations. While manufacturers have not reported widespread shortages, they are periodically revising module prices to offset higher component costs.

Because data center procurement often moves in waves, supply tightness may eventually ease. In the interim, module suppliers are inserting contractual protections and more flexible pricing terms to manage the volatility.

Leading vendors are also restructuring their positions. Quectel, Fibocom, Telit Cinterion, MeiG, and China Mobile IoT accounted for 73% of market revenue in 2025. The scale of China-based firms continues to reshape the competitive environment. Quectel, China Mobile IoT, Sunsea AIoT, Lierda, and Fibocom are shipping enormous module quantities within China's domestic ecosystem, while ZXInfoTek is expanding its presence in point-of-sale applications.

In the cellular IoT chipset market, shipments expanded to support the 612 million modules produced in 2025, excluding automotive-grade units. ASR Microelectronics, Qualcomm, Eigencomm, UNISOC, Xinyi, and MediaTek remain the most significant chipset players. China-based chipset suppliers posted strong growth in LTE Cat-1 bis and NB-IoT segments, while Qualcomm maintained a sizable presence in LTE-M and high-end 4G and 5G categories. This division between high-volume, low-power chipsets and premium 5G chips directly influences long-term enterprise product roadmaps.

Ongoing standardization from telecommunications bodies continues to shape ecosystem scale. Specifications developed by 3GPP and guidelines published by organizations such as the GSMA and ITU underpin roaming protocols, security expectations, and interoperability. Because many organizations deploying IoT at scale still identify fragmentation as a barrier, progress on unified frameworks produces immediate operational benefits.

Looking forward, Berg Insight expects cellular IoT module shipments to reach 878 million units by 2030, representing a 7% CAGR. Other analyst firms, such as Future Market Insights and Counterpoint Research, have projected similar long-term growth for the broader IoT module market. Reaching these projections will depend on variables including chipset availability, enterprise investment cycles, regulatory stability, and the pace of 5G-Advanced adoption.

Industrial IoT projects tend to roll out in phases aligned with machinery refresh cycles, while automotive deployments face longer testing and certification pipelines. Across these distinct sectors, cellular options continue to offer advantages in coverage and security that unlicensed alternatives frequently lack.

The continuation of growth into 2026 indicates market resilience. Despite memory price challenges and heightened competition, module shipments are expanding. Buyers are becoming more informed about module selection, particularly for narrowband or Cat-1 bis applications, and vendors are diversifying product lines to match vertical-specific needs. As cellular IoT enters a more mature phase, enterprise and telecom leaders have a clear runway for long-term deployments.