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Everywhere you turn, it is hard to avoid the hype around M2M (Machine-to-Machine), the connectivity for the even more hyped ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT). But the hype train does not start rolling without a fair amount of steam behind it. And here the analysts are only too happy to stoke the fire. Machina for example predicts a global M2M market of USD1.6 trillion by 2024[1], with cellular connections specifically growing from 256 million to 2.2 billion during this time. Beecham Research on the other hand expects 30% year-on-year growth of mobile/cellular M2M over the next few years, reaching 1 billion cellular M2M connections by 2020[2]. Big forecasts indeed, but not everyone believes them. It is not uncommon for naysayers, and dare I say it, realists, to question the hype. They should. The forecasts are big and should be scrutinised. But there is also a lot of unfounded scepticism and even misperception among the channel about M2M and how profitable it can be. Let’s address those here. Believe the hype In business, it is healthy ...