There were nearly two dozen major mergers and acquisitions in the Internet of Things (IoT) and related market segments in the first four months of 2016, Strategy Analytics revealed in a report.
The market segments include Big Data Analytics, connectivity and wireless markets. Cisco, IBM and Intel are among top buyers.
Strategy Analytics said the research indicates the pace at which the M&A activity is taking place now, would exceed that of 2015.
Last year was a record breaking year both in terms of the number and value of acquisitions.
There were 81 mergers and acquisitions last year in the IoT market. That is nearly a seven-fold increase in five years.
Strategy Analytics noted that billion dollar acquisitions, such as Cisco’s $1.4 billion purchase of Jasper Technologies IoT services’ platform and even multi-billion deals -are no longer rarities.
The report further indicated that companies focussed to deliver analytics, security, connectivity platform capabilities and services are the most desirable acquisition targets.
And within those product categories IoT vendors are especially eager to acquire companies in vertical segments including: automotive, consumer wearables, healthcare, industrial IoT, manufacturing, retail, smart home, transportation and weather.
