Narrowband IoT Chipset Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2021-2031

The Global Narrowband IoT Chipset Market is projected to expand significantly, rising from USD 3.04 Billion in 2025 to USD 18.54 Billion by 2031, representing a compound annual growth rate of 35.17%. This market comprises specialized semiconductor solutions designed to facilitate cellular communication for devices characterized by low data usage and long operational lifespans. Growth is largely propelled by the requirement for superior energy efficiency, enabling devices to run for over a decade on a single battery, alongside the necessity for deep signal penetration in difficult environments such as underground basements. These functional capabilities are essential for the widespread adoption of smart metering and industrial asset tracking, distinguishing them from fleeting consumer technology fads.

One significant obstacle potentially hindering market expansion is fierce competition from alternative wireless technologies that utilize unlicensed spectrums and provide lower initial deployment costs. According to the Global mobile Suppliers Association, 176 operators were actively investing in Narrowband IoT technology in 2024, with 132 having already launched commercial networks. This statistic underscores the strong commitment to infrastructure development within the ecosystem while simultaneously recognizing the competitive hurdles the technology must overcome to attain ubiquitous adoption.

Market Drivers

The extensive deployment of smart utility metering systems serves as a major driver for chipset adoption, with utility providers favoring cellular solutions that guarantee reliable data transmission from deep underground or enclosed areas. This specific use case necessitates the low-power consumption and high-penetration attributes of Narrowband IoT to track water and gas usage over operational periods exceeding a decade, effectively supplanting manual reading methods. This trend was validated in March 2024, when Smart Water Magazine reported that Vodafone Spain secured a ten-year deal to provide over 1 million NB-IoT smart water meters to digitize Aqualia's water cycle management, demonstrating how large-scale projects are modernizing utility grids and generating sustained volume for semiconductor producers.

Furthermore, the convergence with 5G and Massive Machine-Type Communications standards is transforming the market by expanding connectivity to non-terrestrial networks (NTN), allowing support for remote assets previously outside the range of cellular towers. This advancement enables chipsets to transition smoothly between terrestrial and satellite networks, a vital feature for logistics and agriculture in isolated areas. Highlighting this demand, Sateliot announced in an August 2024 press release that it had already contracted to connect over 8 million devices through its new 5G NB-IoT satellite constellation. This expansion is supported by a mature hardware ecosystem; the Global mobile Suppliers Association noted that in 2024, the number of devices supporting 3GPP IoT standards reached 982, providing a wide array of hardware choices for these sophisticated applications.

Market Challenges

The Global Narrowband IoT Chipset Market faces significant constraints due to strong competition from alternative wireless technologies that function on unlicensed spectrums. In contrast to Narrowband IoT, which depends on licensed cellular bands and involves recurring subscription fees to network operators, competing technologies permit businesses to establish private networks with considerably lower initial and ongoing costs. This financial benefit renders non-cellular options highly appealing for extensive deployments in cost-conscious industries like agriculture and logistics, thereby restricting the potential market reach for Narrowband IoT chipsets.

This competitive environment impedes growth by enabling these alternative ecosystems to establish themselves in critical industrial sectors before cellular solutions can secure a position. The scale of this obstacle is illustrated by the extensive adoption of non-cellular devices, which directly diminishes the demand for cellular-based silicon. For instance, the LoRa Alliance reported in 2024 that over 350 million LoRaWAN end nodes had been deployed worldwide. This substantial volume of connections outside the cellular framework indicates that unlicensed technologies have already secured a large portion of the low-power wide-area network market, compelling Narrowband IoT vendors to contend with a well-established and cost-efficient incumbent.

Market Trends

The widespread adoption of Dual-Mode LTE-M and NB-IoT System-on-Chips (SoCs) is unifying the cellular IoT sector by resolving the fragmentation caused by differing regional network standards. Device manufacturers are increasingly utilizing multi-mode silicon to develop single global stock-keeping units (SKUs) that function on both European NB-IoT and North American LTE-M infrastructures. This consolidation removes the requirement for region-specific hardware versions, significantly simplifying supply chain logistics and guaranteeing interoperability for assets traveling across borders. As noted in the 'Device Technology Trends Report 2025' by the Global Certification Forum in February 2025, over 88% of certified devices featured multiple radio technologies in 2024, underscoring the industry's shift toward versatile connectivity solutions that facilitate seamless international operation.

Simultaneously, the move toward Integrated SIM (iSIM) architecture is fundamentally transforming chipset design by embedding subscriber identity modules directly within the system-on-chip. This development eliminates the necessity for physical SIM cards or soldered eSIMs, liberating critical board space for compact sensors and lowering the overall Bill of Materials (BOM) for cost-sensitive tracking devices. This shift also improves power efficiency by removing the dedicated power rails needed for external SIM components. According to a January 2025 press release from Kigen regarding Nordic Semiconductor, the new nRF9151 System-in-Package delivers a 20 percent reduction in design size and 45 percent lower peak power consumption compared to earlier generations, an improvement driven largely by the integration of advanced iSIM capabilities.

Key Players Profiled in the Narrowband IoT Chipset Market

• Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
• Qualcomm Incorporated
• Intel Corporation
• Nordic Semiconductor ASA
• Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
• MediaTek Inc.
• u-blox Holding AG
• Sequans Communications S.A.
• Sierra Wireless, Inc.
• Sanechips Technology Co., Ltd.

Report Scope

In this report, the Global Narrowband IoT Chipset Market has been segmented into the following categories:

Narrowband IoT Chipset Market, by Device Type:

• Tracker
• Smart Metering
• Wearable

Narrowband IoT Chipset Market, by Deployment:

• Stand Alone
• Guard Band
• In Band

Narrowband IoT Chipset Market, by Vertical:

• IT
• Manufacturing
• Agriculture
• Healthcare
• Automotive
• Transportation

Narrowband IoT Chipset Market, by Region:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia-Pacific
• South America
• Middle East & Africa

Competitive Landscape

Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in the Global Narrowband IoT Chipset Market.

Available Customization

The analyst offers customization according to your specific needs. The following customization options are available for the report:

• Detailed analysis and profiling of additional market players (up to five).

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