Qatar Internet of Things (IoT) Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Qatar Internet of Things (IoT) Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The Qatar IoT Market size is expected to grow from USD 0.79 billion in 2023 to USD 2.71 billion by 2028, at a CAGR of 27.92% during the forecast period (2023-2028).

Key Highlights

• Of all the Arab countries, Qatar is one of the few that can be termed technologically advanced. The country witnesses a high rate of innovation, starting from IoT, virtual reality, robotics, and the most recent, 5G. As part of its long-term vision and strategy, Qatar aims to become one of the smartest countries in the Middle East. Given the high internet and smartphone penetration levels, the country is poised to grow in technology readiness and is highly willing to adopt new technologies.
• The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) in Qatar established Tasmu Digital Valley as an innovation cluster where multiple sectors can work together to achieve the goal of Smart Qatar. Tasmu Digital Valley is a smart platform that connects startups, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, academics, students, multinational corporations, and institutions to innovate new digital solutions. IoT as a component is 40% of the Tasmu Smart Qatar use cases. Such factors are proliferating the IoT market in the country.
• Moreover, the Government is launching various initiatives for the growth of the IoT market in the country. For instance, The Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC), the first independent innovations center in the region with a focus on developing and deploying smart mobility services and systems, developed Labeeb IoT. QMIC's main goal is to use locally engineered innovations and knowledge to create technology-based industries that address regional challenges and grow with mega projects in Qatar and the region.
• Further, QMIC has been delivering IoT platforms and services across several vertical domains, including road safety, environment, logistics, telematics, and intelligent transport. In addition, QMIC is working with major global and national market players and stakeholders to create a market-focused innovation ecosystem in the region.
• Moreover, the increasing efforts from the market players in the country are further expected to drive the market at a rapid pace. For instance, Ooredoo is leveraging 5G to drive IoT innovation with two key technology elements: network traffic prioritization based on the priority of the industry vertical and lower latency for critical applications such as smart and connected transportation, retail, energy, healthcare, education, and entertainment.
• The increase in the elderly population results in an increasing burden of chronic health diseases. This results in a decrease in physical activity and loss of mobility. Also, the risk for severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age, with older adults at the highest risk. This significantly creates the need for Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE) tracking and response to support patients' mobility through sensors and provide immediate response in emergencies. This IoT application could provide rapid medical assistance, especially for the elderly, by developing sensors monitoring patient health and movement. The system is connected to caregivers and emergency response teams to provide assistance based on patient location.

Qatar Internet of Things (IoT) Market Trends

Increase in Adoption of Smart Homes Projects

• The increasing adoption of smart home projects in the country is analyzed to positively impact the market's growth. Moreover, the growing efforts by market vendors in terms of 5G connectivity will significantly expand the horizon of smart homes in the country, thus positively impacting the market's growth.
• For instance, in December 2021, Vodafone Qatar announced the completion of Qatar's first successful millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum experiment, marking the next milestone in building its world-class GigaNet 5G network. The trial reached system capabilities of 8.1 Gbps on the downlink (DL) and 734 Mbps on the uplink (UL) using new and sophisticated 5G technologies provided across the mmWave Spectrum.
• Further, cellular IoT deployments in the country are accelerating across connected cars, utilities, and home automation, and with 5G on the horizon, IoT adoption is likely to grow even faster. Network providers across Qatar are increasingly offering 5G connectivity and 5G-enabled devices. Such developments are further expected to drive the application of IoT in smart home projects over the forecast period.
• Qatar has emerged as one of the leading countries regarding 5G network coverage. Moreover, the country's high Internet and smartphone penetration are expected to drive major telecom players' 5G deployment efforts. 5G has enormous potential to significantly impact how IoT ecosystems are designed, specifically in reliability, scalability, latency, security, and the level of individual control on connectivity parameters. For instance, according to the data from GSMA Intelligence, mobile connections in Qatar were 151.8% of the total population in January last year.

Transportation and Logistics Expected to Hold Significant Share

• The transformation and logistics segment is expected to hold a significant share of the IoT market in Qatar. As Qatar's transportation infrastructure grows, an increase in traffic-related problems such as traffic congestion, safety, and pollution becomes inevitable. This will necessitate the implementation of sensory infrastructure to collect data about traffic conditions and make the appropriate changes. Other IoT use cases include connected transport networks, road-to-vehicle communication, and public transportation social listening.
• Vehicles in Qatar operate in silos despite being the major cause of traffic congestion and road incidents. There is a significant potential to decrease congestion and collisions by connecting vehicles to the infrastructure. With the usage of IoT, vehicles could receive real-time roadway information from central traffic management systems. The vehicles can recognize high-risk situations in advance, resulting in driver alerts and warnings through specific actions.
• Further, the drivers could also make aware of their surroundings, such as traffic lights, traffic signals, parking lots, and emergencies, to act accordingly. This could open significant opportunities in Connected Vehicles (V2V), Real-Time Crowd and Transportation Management, and Mobility Contextual Pre-Advice.
• Moreover, market vendors are focusing on innovative product launches for the transportation sector. For instance, in June last year, Vodafone launched an asset-tracking service in Qatar to help businesses improve the efficiency of their operations by using IoT technologies. The end-to-end IoT asset-tracking service facilitates the delivery of real-time information such as asset location and environmental conditions, can track multiple assets simultaneously, and deliver alerts and reports.

Qatar Internet of Things (IoT) Industry Overview

The Qatar Internet of Things (IoT) market appears to be moderately fragmented due to the presence of significant technological giants. Key strategies adopted by the major players in the market are product innovation and mergers and acquisitions. Some of the major players in the market are Labeeb IoT (Qatar Mobility Innovations Center), Ooredoo QPSC, Vodafone Qatar PQSC, Cisco Systems Inc., etc.

In January 2023, Ooredoo, a leading developer of the Internet of Things (IoT) in Qatar, announced the availability of two new IoT asset management packages, which will enable business customers to monitor company resources from a single, intuitive dashboard. Key solution features include real-time asset tracking, dashboard-based reporting, predictive and preventive maintenance, and analytics.

In April 2022, Ooredoo Qatar, a leading national provider of ICT, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Microsoft and Siemens at a signing ceremony at the Smart City Expo, staged from 29-30 March 2022 in Msheireb. This MoU aims to develop digital, Internet of Things (IoT), and software analytics solutions and related use cases by leveraging the expertise and technologies of the signatories.

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