The figure has been established as a future average, but the group predicts that the actual number of devices could range from a minimum of six billion to a maximum of 44 billion.
The devices are broken down into personal devices, household devices, passenger cars, domestic alarm systems and remote metering. Household items are predicted to make up over 70% of all connected devices in 2010.
By 2020, North America will have the most devices per person, with the highest estimates predicting as many as 23.2 devices per person in the region. The Middle East and Africa are expected to have the fewest devices, where estimates are as low as 0.2 per person.
Despite the forecasts for aggressive growth, the IoT has yet to become a mass-market proposition. The IoT still needs to be pulled together into a cohesive and user-friendly package, while security issues also need to be resolved.
