Is the CDN market really a $4B industry or a $40B industry? If the Internet of Things (IoT) is thrown into the mix, its sounds like the CDN ecosystem is more like a $40B market. IDC predicts (IoT) to become a $1.7 trillion market in 2015. That’s one of the reasons why Cisco stock continues to climb. Chambers stated that the IoT will help Cisco become the # 1 IT Solutions Provider worldwide. Cisco estimates that 99.4% of the 1.5 trillion connectable devices are not connected to the Internet, so there is nothing but huge untapped upside.
What does this mean for the CDN Industry? For starters, Network Operators and Mobile Operators might use Cisco or might not. However, the IoT must use a CDN, whether it’s a Network Operator CDN (N-CDN) or a Mobile Operator CDN (M-CDN) with or without RAN (radio access network). If we add $2 trillion market + 1.5 trillion connectible devices that run on some form of a CDN, the $40B CDN market is not inconceivable.
Conclusion: Right now is a beautiful time to be a player in the CDN industry. The diagram below illustrates the IoT running on a CDN, in which wireless devices (washer machines, home alarm systems, wearable devices, etc.) must access a centralized application located elsewhere.
