Cellular IoT module shipments up by 32% on-year in India in 1Q25: Counterpoint
NEW DELHI: The cellular
Internet of Things
(IoT) module shipments in India grew by 32% year-on-year in Q1 2025, higher than the broader market, driven by the Central government's
smart metering initiative
, Counterpoint Research said in a report released Thursday.
Under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), the Narendra Modi-led government has envisaged the installation of 250 million prepaid smart meters nationwide, in a bid to help distribution companies (DISCOMs) improve their financial and operational efficiencies. The scheme has an outlay of ₹1.5 lakh crore.
According to a Ministry of Power statement released in January last year, 19.79 lakh prepaid smart meters had been installed by then.
Meanwhile, Counterpoint said the global cellular
IoT modules
were up 16% year-on-year in the January-March quarter of 2025, primarily driven by strong demand in India, China, and Latin America for smart metering, point-of-sale, and asset tracking applications.
'China reinforced its lead in the global cellular IoT module market with 19% YoY growth, driven by 5G and Cat 1 bis adoption across POS, asset tracking, industrial, and automotive applications. India and Latin America are following suit, capitalising on affordable connectivity to digitise utilities and tracking applications,' said Principal Analyst Tina Lu.
In contrast, North America and parts of APAC declined due to muted demand and macroeconomic headwinds.'
According to the market tracker, 5G emerged as the fastest-growing technology, surging 37% year-on-year, driven by growth in the router/consumer premises equipment (CPE) and automotive segments, especially in China. By contrast, 4G Cat 1 bis is becoming the 'de facto' standard for mass-market IoT deployments, with its shipments rising 35% year-on-year.
The technology, it said, is ideal for high-volume, low-complexity applications such as asset tracking and metering, and is disrupting legacy IoT strategies across multiple verticals.
Quectel, China Mobile, and Fibocom led in terms of volumes with a share of 37%, 10%, and 8%, respectively. Sunsea and Lierda followed in third and fourth ranks, with a 7% share each, as per Counterpoint data.
Among the top five, China Mobile's shipments grew the highest at 77% year-on-year in Q1 2025.
Counterpoint, however, cautioned that with declining average selling prices (ASPs) for modules and chipsets, vendors are under increasing price pressure from Chinese competitors, leading to shrinking margins.
This is compelling many brands to shift focus to more profitable segments, it added.
'Qualcomm maintained its top position, followed by ASR and UNISOC. ASR has nearly doubled its market share over the years, driven by its dominant presence in the 4G Cat 1 bis chipset segment,' said Research Analyst Hanumant Pawar.
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