Global Intelligent Systems To Be $2.2 Trillion Market by 2020, IDC Says

The information technology and operational technology industries are moving beyond IoT buzz and deploying intelligent systems in vertical markets including retail, industrial automation, automotive systems and homes, an IDC study said. Intelligent systems will grow at a compounded annual rate of 7.2 percent from 2015 to 2020 with revenue topping $2.2 trillion worldwide by 2010, IDC said. As processors, microcontrollers and connectivity are embedded into new devices, "edge intelligence" in smart appliances, industrial machines and automobiles continues to increase, IDC analyst Mario Morales said. "A radical transformation is underway from the cloud to the edge of every major system,” analyst Les Santiago said. Edge and cloud infrastructures need to continue to scale and support “trillions of sensors and billions of systems" to meet the opportunity, Santiago said. "Increasing intelligence at the edge will be one of the primary drivers of growth of the overall semiconductor market over the next few years against the backdrop of a maturing smartphone and PC market and a difficult pricing environment in the memory markets,” he said. Vendors would benefit from structuring their product portfolios to take advantage of the trend, he said.