Global Cellular IoT Module Market Report – Q1 2025

Market Overview

Global cellular IoT module shipments grew by 16% year-on-year in Q1 2025, driven by strong demand from India, China, and Latin America—particularly in smart metering, point-of-sale (POS) systems, and asset tracking applications.

Regional Market Trends

China recorded a 19% YoY growth by widely deploying 5G and 4G Cat 1 bis in POS, asset tracking, industrial, and automotive applications, maintaining its global leadership.

Supported by favorable government policies, India achieved the highest YoY growth of 32% through accelerated smart meter adoption.

Latin America leveraged cost-effective connectivity to digitize utilities and tracking applications.

North America and parts of APAC experienced declines due to weak demand and macroeconomic headwinds.

Technology Trends

5G module shipments rose 37% YoY, with strong growth in routers, CPEs, and automotive segments.

4G Cat 1 bis stood out for its affordability, broad network support, and simplicity—making it ideal for high-volume, low-complexity use cases.

Vendor Performance

Quectel retained its global lead in module shipments.

China Mobile and Fibocom followed, with the top three vendors accounting for over 50% of the global market.

Telit Cinterion performed well outside of China.

u-blox exited the cellular IoT module segment to focus on GNSS and short-range communication.

Chipset Vendor Dynamics

Qualcomm maintained its leadership position globally.

ASR and UNISOC followed, with ASR nearly doubling its market share in 4G Cat 1 bis chipsets.

5G RedCap Deployment

Initial deployments of 5G RedCap modules have begun in China and North America, targeting surveillance cameras, smart glasses, routers, and MiFi devices.

With China’s expanding SA 5G coverage and government incentives, RedCap is expected to drive significant growth in the coming years.

Outlook

The market is set to grow steadily in 2025, driven by:

Rising demand for connected devices and automotive IoT in emerging markets;

Continued dominance of Chinese vendors;

Recovery of Western vendors amid improving geopolitical and economic conditions.、