Field Mobility Solutions Market Size, Share, Opportunities, COVID-19 Impact, And Trends By Solution (Hardware, Software, Services), By Device (Smartphones, Tablets, PCs/Laptop, Others), By End-User Industry (Food And Beverage, Oil And Gas, Healthcare, BFSI, Others), And By Geography - Forecasts From 2022 To 2027

The field mobility solutions market was valued at US$8.557 billion in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 7.01% to reach a market size of US$13.749 billion by 2027.

The growth of this market is majorly attributed to the rising penetration of smartphones and other mobile internet devices like tablet PCs. Furthermore, the growing trend of wireless connectivity solutions is also expected to drive the demand for these solutions, and thereby add to the growth of the market significantly. In addition, the burgeoning popularity of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) over cloud-based solutions is also anticipated to bolster the demand for these cost-effective field mobility solutions, especially across SMEs. Furthermore, rapid technological advancements and innovation in the field of mobile connectivity as a result of heavy investment in R&D will most likely provide lucrative opportunities for future growth in the mobility solutions market.

The rising penetration of mobile devices is anticipated to drive the market growth

The rapidly growing penetration of portable and handheld computing devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops is one of the key factors spurring the market growth of field mobility solutions during the forecast period. Field mobility is about empowering the business workforce operating in the field with state-of-the-art technological solutions like mobile devices, wireless connectivity, and cloud-based field services management software and giving them access to all the resources and data in order to execute their business objectives efficiently, thereby enabling the organizations to improve their overall efficiency and also help them reduce operating costs. The growing number of mobile devices such as smartphones and mobile tablets has fueled the adoption of field mobility solutions by businesses, especially small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), because of the huge cost advantage they provide, and hence, act as a major driver in the field mobility solutions market all across the globe.

The oil and gas industry to hold a decent share of the market

By end-user industry, the field mobility solutions market is segmented as food and beverage, oil and gas, healthcare, BFSI, and others. The oil and gas industry is expected to hold a significant share on account of the increasing adoption of IoT and mobile devices due to the increase in operations. Furthermore, increasing investments by both private and public players coupled with increased adoption of automation and mobile devices are expected to augment the demand for mobility solutions in this industry. The application of mobility solutions across the industry has led enterprises be it big, small, or mid-sized, to overcome the bottlenecks and increase their efficiency.

Due to the numerous advantages of these solutions, companies are able to capture real-time data and integrate them with IoT applications, which enables them to save costs, improve safety, and increase productivity. Due to all these factors, the players in this industry are spending heavily on the adoption of new technology, which is further expected to drive the demand and market growth opportunities for manufacturers and vendors over the next five years.

The market for field mobility solutions for the healthcare industry is projected to grow substantially throughout the forecast period due to the increasing investments in the healthcare sector for the adoption of advanced solutions to cater to the growing needs of improving patient care both in terms of safety and quality. Furthermore, the BFSI and food and beverage industries are projected to witness an increase in the demand for field mobility solutions over the forecast period owing to the growing demand for data accuracy and efficiency improvements in sales and services.

Tablets are expected to witness strong growth

By devices, the field mobility solutions market is segmented into smartphones, tablets, PC/laptops, and others. The rising investments by key technology providers in the form of R&D for developing the latest and advanced products with the aim of catering to the needs of the major end-user industries are further increasing the integration of many advanced technologies into these devices in order to widen their scope of the application while adding ruggedness to their overall design For instance, in February 2019, Samsung launched a new rugged tablet, the Tab Active 2, for businesses in India.

This military-grade certified (MIL-STD-840G) tablet is built to withstand accidental shocks, vibrations, rain, and dust, and is protected by Samsung’s defence-grade Knox security system. This makes this tablet suitable for applications across sectors like law enforcement, defense, e-commerce, logistics, and manufacturing, among others. Furthermore, the wide adoption of tablets due to their high configurations and performance abilities coupled with high efficiency is also one of the key factors boosting the adoption of tablets as field mobility solutions. Smartphones are anticipated to witness decent growth throughout the forecast period on account of the proliferation of smartphones, especially in developing countries, which is increasing their use among professionals in field services.

Asia Pacific region is expected to witness notable growth over the forecast period

Geographically, the global field mobility solutions market is classified into North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific regions. The North American region is expected to hold a noteworthy share of the global market on account of the presence of a well-established infrastructure and the early adoption of the technology. In addition, the presence of the key market players in the country coupled with the high adoption of connected devices also supplements the growth of the market in this region. Europe is expected to hold a decent market share due to government initiatives and regulations regarding workers' safety and the high penetration of automation across numerous industry verticals. The market in the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to show robust growth opportunities throughout the forecast period on account of the rising penetration of connected and handheld devices. In addition, the rapid industrialization coupled with the rising digitization trend also supports the growth of the market in this region during the next five years.

Key Developments

• January 2020: As per the press release by IBM in January 2020, IBM launched EMM, to connect quickly to corporate resources, enterprise mobility management (EMM) combines user, application, and content management with strong data security. EMM solutions simplify device management and configuration, facilitate enrollment requests, distribute apps and documents, and facilitate collaboration. To provide seamless access to intranet sites and to corporate apps and data, conventional EMMs provide seamless access to intranet sites and use VPN capabilities on employees' devices.
• December 2019: As per the press release by General Electric in December 2019, General Electric launched Integrating ADMS and Mobility solutions to empower utilities to streamline the workflow between the field and operations, removing bottlenecks and wait times during shift changeovers and periods of increased activity.

Impact of COVID-19 on the Field Mobility Solutions Market

Due to the government-imposed lockdown and poor demand from the electronics and automotive industries, the market for field mobility declined in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic stopped the manufacturing of a number of products in the automobile sector, especially because major nations throughout the world were placed on long-term lockdowns. The market for field mobility was considerably affected by this. Equipment and machinery sales were negatively impacted by COVID-19, which also had an adverse effect on the market expansion. Large manufacturing nations like the U.S., Germany, Italy, the UK, and China, which were adversely impacted by the spread of the coronavirus, historically accounted for the majority of the demand. Additionally, the key players started focusing on investments that could aid them in generating operating revenues. The number of developments such as product launches and related developments in the field mobility market in 2020 reduced. However, in many end-user verticals, such as healthcare, consumer electronics, industrial and automotive sector, field mobility solutions are being adopted at an accelerated rate.