Not long ago, analysts and vendors were predicting fast growth for the machine-to-machine (M2M) software and services market. In a report published in 2007, research firm ABI Inc. forecast that the market for M2M devices and software would quadruple from 2006 to 2012, reaching $8 billion annually.
The expectation was that many manufacturers would jump at the chance to improve field service and even generate new streams of service revenue by using M2M technologies, which rely on sensors, wireless and wired communications, and server software to remotely monitor equipment, such as medical devices and printing presses.
But experts now say the M2M market has failed to live up to expectations. And, recently, two M2M application vendors, Axeda Corp. and direct competitor Questra Corp., announced plans to merge.
"Both sides agree we'd be better off as one company focusing our energy on innovating for customers and not just competing with each other," Axeda Vice President of Marketing Brian Anderson told Managing Automation at the time of the announcement.