---
title: Emerging markets drive cellular IoT module shipments  - Developing Telecoms
description: Global shipments of cellular IoT modules grew 16% year-on-year in Q1 2025, largely fuelled by strong demand in India, China, and Latin America, according to Counterpoint Research.
canonical_url: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/vendor-news/18624-emerging-markets-drive-cellular-iot-module-shipments.html
language: en-GB
date: 2025-06-13T15:25:16Z
notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/vendor-news/18624-emerging-markets-drive-cellular-iot-module-shipments.html. Schema.org structured data included at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
markdown-tokens: 1221
---

> **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/vendor-news/18624-emerging-markets-drive-cellular-iot-module-shipments.html. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content.
> **Structured data** as JSON-LD may be found at the end between AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN and AI:SCHEMA:END markers.
> **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above.


Global shipments of cellular IoT modules grew 16% year-on-year in Q1 2025, largely fuelled by strong demand in India, China, and Latin America, according to Counterpoint Research.

The analyst firm highlighted surging demand for smart metering, point-of-sale (POS), and asset-tracking applications in these regions.

Principal analyst Tina Lu noted that China “reinforced its lead” in the IoT segment with 19% year-on-year growth, driven by uptake in 5G, upgrades to payment systems, and expansion across asset tracking, industrial, and automotive use cases.

India and Latin America followed closely, leveraging affordable connectivity to accelerate digitalisation of utilities and tracking services, said Lu.

India posted the highest growth globally, recording a 32% year-on-year increase in Q1, primarily due to large-scale smart meter deployments supported by favourable government policies. In contrast, North America and parts of Asia-Pacific saw declines, attributed to muted demand and broader macroeconomic challenges.

Emerging market momentum contrasted with stagnation in developed markets, underscoring a shift in the global IoT landscape.

In terms of connectivity technologies, 5G was the fastest-growing segment, with shipments rising 37%, particularly in China’s router/CPE and automotive markets.

Lu also noted: “4G Cat 1 bis is becoming the de facto standard for mass-market IoT deployments. Shipments rose 35% year-on-year, thanks to its optimal balance of performance and cost. Its affordability, widespread network support, and design simplicity make it ideal for high-volume, low-complexity applications such as asset tracking and metering, disrupting legacy IoT strategies across multiple sectors.”

Quectel retained its leadership in the global IoT module market with a 37% share, followed by China Mobile at 10% and Fibocom at 8%.

Looking ahead, Counterpoint Research forecasted “significant growth” in IoT devices driven by 5G RedCap modules, with China expected to be a key market as standalone 5G adoption expands and government-backed initiatives continue to gain pace.

<!-- AI:SCHEMA: Schema.org description of canonical page in JSON-LD format -->
<!-- AI:SCHEMA:BEGIN format=jsonld scope=page -->

```json
{
    "@context": "http:\/\/schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Article",
            "author": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/#manny_pham_133554b7e2"
            },
            "dateModified": "2025-06-13T15:25:16Z",
            "datePublished": "2025-06-13T15:25:16Z",
            "description": "Global shipments of cellular IoT modules grew 16% year-on-year in Q1 2025, largely fuelled by strong demand in India, China, and Latin America, according to Counterpoint Research.",
            "headline": "Emerging markets drive cellular IoT module shipments ",
            "image": [
                {
                    "@type": "ImageObject",
                    "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/Places\/Bogota_600.jpg",
                    "caption": "",
                    "description": "Emerging markets drive cellular IoT module shipments ",
                    "width": 600,
                    "height": 450
                }
            ],
            "inLanguage": "en-GB",
            "mainEntityOfPage": {
                "@type": "WebPage",
                "url": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/vendor-news\/18624-emerging-markets-drive-cellular-iot-module-shipments.html"
            },
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher"
            },
            "url": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/telecom-business\/vendor-news\/18624-emerging-markets-drive-cellular-iot-module-shipments.html"
        },
        {
            "@type": "Person",
            "name": "Manny Pham",
            "@id": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/#manny_pham_133554b7e2"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultPublisher",
            "@type": "Organization",
            "url": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/",
            "logo": {
                "@id": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo"
            },
            "name": "Developing Telecoms"
        },
        {
            "@id": "https:\/\/www.developingtelecoms.com\/#defaultLogo",
            "@type": "ImageObject",
            "url": "https:\/\/developingtelecoms.com\/images\/stories\/highResLogos\/dt-site-logo-440.png",
            "width": "440",
            "height": "122"
        }
    ]
}
```

<!-- AI:SCHEMA:END -->