Counterpoint Research forecast more than nine billion devices supporting eSIM and related technologies would be shipped between this year and 2030, driven by both increased use in smartphones and cellular IoT devices.

The analyst company’s latest report into the segment predicted a 22 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for shipments of so-called xSIM devices: comprising those supporting eSIM, iSIM and IoT focused Soft SIM and nuSIM.

By 2030 it expects almost 70 per cent of cellular devices shipped to be capable of supporting eSIM or a related technology.

In the consumer segment, it anticipates the installed base of xSIM-capable devices to top 2.5 billion units by 2030.

“The industry has moved past an inflection point after the release of the US-exclusive eSIM-only iPhone in 2022 and is now entering a period of hyper growth,” the company claimed. “This is evidenced by the growing number of OEMs launching eSIM-capable devices”.

It noted although smartphones currently had the highest adoption rate in the consumer market there was great potential for other devices including connected cars, drones and routers where physical SIM is deemed hard to manage.

Counterpoint senior analyst Ankit Malhotra highlighted alongside eSIM there was an expectation of an upcoming boom in iSIM, noting despite the technology being quite new to the market: “We expect iSIM adoption to pick up steam in the next three years”.

“The technology has the potential to bring more efficiency to devices by lowering costs, size and complexity. This makes it ideal for use in a wide range of IoT applications, from smart home devices to industrial sensors.”