At Transforma Insights we track the entirety of the IoT market opportunity, across all the diverse use cases. One of the categories of applications that will see the most rapid growth over the next decade is what we term ‘Disposable Devices’. In this blog, we provide a brief introduction to disposable trackers and how we expect these low-cost, lightweight, small, battery-powered devices to grow rapidly. Transforma Insights recently published a report, ‘Disposable Devices: 66 million connected devices by 2033, mostly driven by low cost LPWA trackers’, which discusses in detail how businesses use single-use trackers, particularly to monitor and track high-value goods in transit.
According to Tive (a provider of supply chain tracking solutions), every year, the global economy suffers an overwhelming loss – worth more than USD10 billion – due to goods getting lost before reaching their respective destinations. This not only hampers the reputation of businesses but may also lead to customer churn. Manufacturers have limited information about whether those goods will reach their destinations on time. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses that transport perishable goods across geographies to monitor the condition and quality of goods. In case businesses fail to preserve the quality of goods they may have to bear major financial consequences in the form of shipment rejections or government fines for non-compliance.
In the past, businesses were often left with a daunting challenge when transporting high-valued items through third-party logistics providers. These providers mostly provided minimum information about the location of the goods and their condition, when they were in transit. However, this situation is rapidly changing with the steady adoption of disposable trackers, which is enabling better tracking and monitoring of shipments, allowing businesses to have a better control and visibility over their shipped items.
The trackers are paper-thin tags which can be attached or pasted to packages or containers, and they offer location, internal and external temperature, and motion data of packages. Typically, these are non-rechargeable and operate on small batteries, transmitting small amounts of data to conserve battery. Some of the key vendors providing disposable trackers are:
According to our analysis, the total number of connected devices in the Disposable Devices Application Group will grow from 1.4 million in 2023 to 65.7 million in 2033 at a CAGR of 47%. This can be attributed to multiple factors but majorly being low-cost, small, and lightweight, these trackers are a cost-effective solution for one-way shipment tracking. Also, the elimination of reverse logistics due to the disposal of trackers at the destination. Furthermore, with the increased availability of cheap trackers, manufacturers can now look to a far greater variety of low-cost solutions to monitor and track their goods through these devices.
LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) technologies, such as NB-IoT and LoRaWAN, are the primary factor behind the increasing uptake of lightweight, low-power consuming trackers. The technologies send and receive relatively small amounts of data, but can operate for many years on a single battery. They also typically have good range and can penetrate through metallic containers and buildings. The range of trackers using LPWA technologies have now extended to include paper-thin tags which can be attached or pasted to packages or containers, and they offer location, internal and external temperature, and motion data of packages.
A major downside to LPWA is the fragmentation of network availability, particularly when international transport is considered. Within LPWA, there are two main categories. The 5G mMTC (constituting NB-IoT and LTE-M) technologies are those developed by the mobile industry and are the main (but not exclusive) focus of cellular network operators. In many cases this equates to national coverage in many countries but this remains inconsistent. Some countries have minimal or non-existent support for one or more of the technologies. The alternative is LPWA technologies that use unlicensed spectrum, the most prevalent of which is LoRaWAN. In some cases these are deployed as national networks, for instance by telecoms operators KPN, Orange and Swisscom or by LoRaWAN specialists such as Everynet and Netmore. In other cases they are deployed as private networks, although typically those deployments are of too small a scale, covering a building or campus, to be relevant for the disposable tracker market. The availability of LoRaWAN, or other technologies such as Sigfox, is even more variable than with the 5G mMTC technologies noted above, with many countries have no network available or only limited coverage.
Additionally, disposability is the major challenge that could halt the growth of disposable trackers. These trackers, often single-use and commonly containing lithium batteries, can have significant environmental impacts if they are not properly disposed of. The harmful metals such as nickel and cobalt present in these batteries can contribute to water, soil, and air pollution. Hence, inadequate disposable of these trackers such as throwing them in municipal recycle bins can result in non-recycling due to the presence of toxic substances. To address these risks, it is crucial for disposable tracker providers to prioritise responsible disposal practices. Some of the providers of single-use trackers are taking the responsibility of recycling and refurbishing them by recommending their customers to return trackers to them.
Moreover, Track & Trace devices are becoming increasingly sophisticated and modern trackers offer multiple network technologies and are often reusable, enhancing their appeal and functionality. This trend contrasts with disposable trackers, which rely on fragmented LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) networks. This may potentially limit the market potential of disposable trackers, especially if the cost of these track and trace devices becomes comparable to that of disposable trackers.
Disposable devices are emerging as a monitoring tool for businesses transporting their goods across regions. They are no longer dependent on the tracking provided by third-party logistics providers, which lags in terms of providing real-time information on the quality and location of transported goods.
