Report analyzes 2.3M social Twitter mentions for major IoT issues.
As IoT products gain consumer acceptance – from connected watches to coffee makers to cameras to thermostats to engines to drills and more-- the new report from Argus Insights reveals that market conversations are heavily concentrated around Big Data concerns.
The "State of the Internet of Things: What's Leading Market Conversations" illustrates that as IoT grows, so does the volume of data collected, and the market discussion focuses on fears of what will happen to this pool of data and how will it remain secure.
Over 2.3 milion social mentions that make up the Twitter discussion about IoT between January and April 10 form the basis for the analysis. The most popular content, hashtags and tweets that saw the most engagement provided the basis for determining what is resonating in the market and how it shifts over time.
The report shows that among IoT topics addressed in the social conversations, Big Data leads market mindshare, substantially ahead of general discussions of wearables, cloud, smart home, smart cities and more. Since growth in Big Data is a natural byproduct of the IoT (all connected devices collect vast amounts of data), it is understandable that this topic could rise to the top over all other IoT topics. Among IoT in general, it is security concerns that predominate, showing significantly more social mentions than privacy concerns.
In fact, the report explains that consumers are weary of Google and Amazon tracking everything they say through Alexa and other smart home devices, and worry that hackers can gain access to baby monitors, smart locks, and other connected devices. "Security concerns for consumers are definitely on the rise and this goes double for any enterprise deployments. Security issues continue to be a real roadblock for IoT product acceptance," said John Feland, CEO, Argus Insights.
Among the social conversations monitored over the course of the report period, talk of brands accounts for less than 10 percent of the overall IoT social discussion. "Though there was definitely talk about Google, Microsoft, Intel, Amazon, Cisco and the rest, no single brand is dominating the overall IoT conversation.," Feland continued.
"Given the multiple, and at times, confusing definitions of the internet of things, seeing this diversity played out over social conversations is a clear indicator that while overall interest in IoT is increasing, no single company has control of the market.," Feland said.