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The top 20 Internet of Things companies right now: Intel

overtakes Google
February 24, 2015

Knud Lasse Lueth (http://iot-analytics.com/author/knud-lasse-lueth/)

When you think of smartphones, you automatically think of Apple. When you think of social networks
you automatically think of Facebook. And when you think of Internet of Things companies?
According to our latest web-analytics ranking there is a head-to-head race going on between 5
companies: Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and IBM.

Ranking the Internet of Things companies

We measure which Internet of Things companies people search for on Google and talk about on Twitter,
which rms make the newspaper and blog headlines, and how many IoT-focused employees these
companies have.

(http://iot-analytics.com/wp/wp-content
/uploads/2015/02/iot-companies-v5.png)
Click to enlarge image

1.

Intel

Intels CEO Brian Krzanich has learned from the past: When smartphones entered the market, Intel didnt
think the opportunity was worth capturing. By the time Intel realized how large the smartphone
semiconductor market would be, others had grabbed the opportunity. With the Internet of Things

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promising some ~50 billion connected devices in the next 5 years, Brian Krzanich wants Intel Inside.
Therefore Intel is at the forefront of developing new generation low-power chips for connected IoT
devices. Intel R&D centers (so called Intel Open Labs) and a number of industry co-operations (e.g., Intel
and Kukas PC-based robot-controllers) lay the foundation of Intels IoT push. Moreover Intel is targeting
startups and developers. The Intel Galileo developer kit for anyone who wants to create their own thing
is being marketed heavily throughout the world. The latest addition to Intel IoT portfolio is a platform for
connecting the data from your things to the cloud.

2.

Microsoft

Microsoft shares the same fate as Intel. The company missed out on the opportunity for operating
systems in smartphones with Windows phones currently enjoying a mere 3% market share.
Microsoft has 3 IoT propositions: Firstly, the Azure platform promises to become the one-stop-shop
cloud platform for connected devices. Secondly, Microsoft Streaming Analytics aims to bene t from a
new kind of processing that will be necessary to extract meaning from sensor data in real-time. Thirdly,
Microsoft has entered the wearables and health space with the Microsoft Band. Apart from these
product lines, Microsoft is experimenting in the industrial IoT space. In a joint project with robot
manufacturer Kuka, Microsoft recently equipped a Jeep Wrangler plant with Microsoft technology to run
manufacturing lines. Similar projects have been piloted in the connected health and connected car
space.

3.

Cisco

Cisco coined the term Internet of Everything. The company is centering its business strategy on the
Internet of Things like no other tech heavy-weight. 720 Cisco employees that identify with IoT on Linkedin
is a number that speaks for itself. Ciscos move to embrace IoT is a natural one though because it is at
the heart of what Cisco has always done: Developing network equipment like routers and switches for
enterprise customers. Apart from network equipment, Cisco is also active in security solutions and Cisco
is the host of the IoT World Forum.

4.

Google

Google accelerated the rise of the Internet of Thing from one day to another. On January 14, 2014 Google
announced that it would buy smart home company Nest for $3.2bn. This day marked the beginning of
mass market awareness for the Internet of Things. Googles glass and self-driving car project also fall
under the category of Internet of Things. In addition, Google recently announced the Physical web
platform. It is not clear yet what the platform will eventually be. But its IoT.

5.

IBM

The last one of the big ve Internet of Things companies is IBM. IBM invests heavily in enterprise
application infrastructure and databases for connected devices. Also analytics. IBM, much like Intel or
Microsoft, partners with other companies to create IoT showcases in di erent areas.

6.

Samsung

Samsungs acquisition of one of the leading smart home platforms, SmartThings, lifted Samsung into the
top 10 Internet of Things companies. Apart from that, Samsung is obviously a large player in the
wearables space.

7.

Apple

Apple does IoT the Apple way. Developing behind closed curtains and then coming out with a bang. Right
now Apples Internet of Things activity is centered on the Apple Watch and the Apple HomeKit platform.
There is also an Apple HealthKit. But you bet Apple is already on the next big thing. Although not yet
announced, it appears Apple is entering the Internet-connected car market for example.

8.

SAP

German giant SAP dominates the enterprise software market. But the company is betting that with the
Internet of Things that market is going to change drastically. SAP is positioning their HANA database as
the secret sauce to make Internet of Things run simple. Besides enabling their ERP-System with IoT
functionality and experimenting with M2M platforms, SAP is undertaking pilot projects in logistics,

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service, and manufacturing operations among others.

9.

Gartner

Gartners reputation in the internet of things stems mainly from their famous hype-cycle. In 2011, when
almost nobody used the term Internet of Things, Gartner placed IoT into its steeply rising part of the
hype-cycle. In 2014 Gartner announced that IoT had nally reached the peak of in ated expectations.
What follows is the trough of disillusionment. Most Internet of Things companies are hoping that for
once Gartner has it wrong and IoT will not fall as deeply as concepts such as virtual reality or gesture
control have.

10. Oracle
It seems as though the technology giant is giving the Internet of Things less of a marketing-push than
other Silicon-Valley tech heavy-weights. Oracles IoT activity is centered on their cloud platform.

11. ARM
United Kingdom based ARM is that dominant smartphone semiconductor company that Intel never
became. ARMs answer to IoT is the low-power Cortex processor family as well as the mbed cloud
platform.

12. General Electric

GE is among the leading Industrial Internet of Things companies. It actually coined the term Industrial
Internet (of Things). GE is rolling-out solutions in a number of industries such as aviation, manufacturing,
or power generation. The company claims to have achieved $1bn of revenues with industrial internet
products in 2014.

13. Accenture
A number of recent publications have catapulted Accenture into the top 20 of this ranking. Over the
course of just 3 months the number of Accenture employees associated with IoT has gone from 11 to
~250 on Linkedin.

14. Amazon
Amazons Echo promises to become an Internet-connected home companion. Moreover Amazon is
getting their established cloud services ready for IoT devices.

15. HP
HPs Helion cloud platform is an open-source dev-ready cloud platform aimed at connecting devices.

16. Arduino
Arduinos development boards continue to excite the maker scene. They serve as a basis for many
startup prototypes.

17. IDC
Together with Gartner, IDC is establishing itself as one of the leading Internet of Things companies
focused on market research.

18. Blackberry
The once so popular manufacturer of rst generation smartphones o ers an IoT platform, speci cally
for automotive and asset tracking.

19. PTC
PTC is the mother company of the popular Thingworx IoT platform.

20. Verizon
Verizon is one of the leading companies for machine-to-machine (M2M) managed services in North
America that allow for data communication via the cellular network. Verizon is speci cally showcasing

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communication solutions in the connected health and connected car space.

Methodology of the ranking

The basis for the ranking is our own database of 1700+ Internet of Things companies. We rank these
rms in four categories:
How often people search for the companies on Google in conjunction with IoT
How often companies get mentioned in tweets on Twitter in conjunction with IoT
How often newspapers and blogs mention the companies in conjunction with IoT
How many company employees carry the tag Internet of Things on Linkedin
The highest scoring company in each aspect receives a rating of 100%, with all other Internet of Things
companies receiving a lower percentage in linear relation to the actual frequency.

Where to go from here

IoT Analytics continues to track these and more Internet of Things companies. Periodically we will redo
this analysis and monitor which new companies will rise up through the IoT ranks.
Subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on your favorite social media channel to stay on top with our
analyses. Or even better, send us your feedback or ideas!

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About the Author

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Knud Lasse Lueth is a self-employed analyst, strategist, and entrepreneur in the

eld of the Internet of Things based in Hamburg/Berlin, Germany. He is a

analytics.com
member of the Hamburg and Berlin IoT User Groups.
/author
/knudlasselueth/)

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IoT Market Forecasts at a glance (October 17, 2014) (http://iot-analytics.com/iot-market-forecasts-overview/)

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