The market value of active consumer asset-tracking devices in Europe and North America is forecast to grow from €1.6bn in 2022 to €3.8bn in 2027.

The number of devices reached 12.5 million at the end of 2022, according to a report from Berg Insight. Growing at a CAGR of 18.4 per cent, the number of units in active use is estimated to reach 29.2 million by the end of 2027.

Consumer asset-tracking devices using wireless wide area networks such as cellular, satellite, LoRa or Sigfox can be divided into four main categories based on asset type – family and child tracking, pet tracking, vehicle tracking, and general asset tracking.

The vehicle category can be further divided into cars; motorcycles and mopeds; bicycles; caravans and motor caravans; leisure boats; and other consumer vehicles including ATVs and snowmobiles. The general asset-tracking segment includes any type of asset, such as bags and luggage, keys, wallets, clothes, electronics, tools, and sports equipment.

Leading providers of family and child tracking products and services include Smartcom Mobility, Smith Micro Software, Life360, Xplora Technologies and Verizon. The pet tracking market is dominated by Tractive, Fi, Whistle and Halo. The market for aftermarket car telematics sold to consumers is led by Verizon, Mojio, Tail Light and Agnik in North America and Haysquare, Net4Things and Plan B in Europe. Leading providers of GPS tracking and vehicle recovery products for motorcycles and mopeds in Europe include Datatool (Scorpion Automotive), Mapit IoT, Monimoto and GeoRide. A few companies provide tracking developed specifically for leisure boats, including Sensar Marine, Sentinel Marine, Sailsense Analytics, Vetel and Siren Marine.

The market for GPS trackers for electric bicycles is growing rapidly. The market is led by European companies such as IoT Venture, PowUnity, Haveltec, BikeFinder and Tracefy. Trackimo, Invoxia and LandAirSea are leading providers of general-purpose tracking devices.

“The demand for consumer asset tracking is growing across all segments,” said Martin Backman, principal analyst at Berg Insight.

The market, says the report (media.berginsight.com/2024/01/30162015/bi-consumerassets2-ps.pdf), is still in an early phase and many providers are searching for the right business and pricing models. Very few companies have emerged as clear market leaders in specific asset-tracking market segments in Europe or North America. Most companies are still mainly serving the domestic market or nearby countries.

“Technological advancements in battery capacity, processor power and network technology will continuously enable better solutions at lower price points,” said Backman.

This should make them even more attractive to consumers and create a higher demand.