When I was a child, time stood still in India.
My cousins and I would run if a car passed just so we could look at it, because cars were such a rare sight. If you wanted to buy a car, you had to wait five years to get one because the government only allowed a certain amount to be made each year.
The state company took six years or more to install a telephone in his house.
Cars and telephones were all the technology that was available to us in India.
Computers, new medical technology, and home appliances like washing machines and air conditioners are something we’ve only just learned about.
But that was then…
Today, thanks to the Internet and satellite television, people all over the world are learning about new technologies at the same time. And that is one of the reasons why the latest technological trend that will bring a revolution to all aspects of human society is going to be a global phenomenon.
The Internet of Things (IoT) revolution is sweeping the world right now.
According to the researchers, the global IoT market in 2020 will be worth $373 billion in terms of sales. Hardware will account for 52% of sales: devices ranging from personal wearable technology to smart homes and connected cars.
The remaining 48% will come from the software and analytics required to convert the copious amounts of data generated by hardware into usable information.
Leading market research firm IDC forecasts that China will spend $128 billion on IoT by 2020. India’s spending will be around $10 billion to $12 billion by 2020. And projected sales to the Middle East and Africa are $11 billion for 2019.
When the personal computer (PC) revolution began, it was mostly confined to developed countries. Only at much later stages, when computer prices fell significantly, did this revolution go global.
But unlike previous technological revolutions, IoT is a global revolution from day one. Children growing up in India today are going to be part of the IoT at the same time as their peers in richer, more developed countries.
IoT Global Reach
In fact, IoT is going to be the first technological revolution that has a real chance of benefiting all countries at the same time.
IoT is going to give us information so that we have safer cars, buses, trucks, trains and planes. It will reduce waste and increase safety in factories and manufacturing. It will give us options on how to use energy to maximize its efficiency and reduce pollution.
This is why I think the IoT revolution will have a bigger impact than the Industrial Revolution and the PC revolution. That’s why Cisco Systems, the world’s largest networking company, estimates the total impact of the IoT revolution to be $19 trillion. And Ericsson, a device manufacturer, believes there will be 50 billion connected devices worldwide by 2020.
And yet, despite these massive numbers, most people are skeptical. The companies that will benefit directly from the IoT revolution today do not reflect the huge advantage that they will capture as this technological trend unfolds.
This poor performance is largely due to fear. You see, most people are too scared of the stock market to buy the stock that is about to go up 100%, 200%, or even 500%. And that is understandable. After all, the 2008 crash and the wild volatility we experienced left many investors with significantly smaller portfolios and less tolerance for risk.
However, just understand that soon more stocks connected to the IoT trend will start to climb higher. For example, the recent IoT-related IPO Impinj (Nasdaq: PI) is up 171% in just two months. But don’t buy this or any other stock just because I’m using it as an example.
Now, IPOs are often small companies that are too risky. However, you can get in on the global IoT trend by buying two exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that I’ve been telling readers about.
First, there is the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE Arca: XLI), which will take you to the industrial and manufacturing side of the IoT technology trend.
Second is the VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF (NYSE Arca: SMH), which will take you to the electronic sensor side of this trade, which is a critical element of the IoT technology trend.