LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM and BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - The rapidly emerging M2M (machine-to-machine) market is already a $50bn business with strong growth prospects. Traditionally a B2B (Business-to-Business) solutions/services market, a new report by leading analyst firm and M2M specialist Beecham Research (www.beechamresearch.com) predicts the coming of age of a growing Consumer market for M2M products and services that will rapidly catch up to the traditional business. The report entitled "Consumer M2M: The Approaching Mass Market" forecasts over 100m consumer M2M products being shipped within the next 5 years - with most of them being connected to cellular mobile networks.

"A fundamental change in the M2M arena is now under way", explains Georg Steimel, lead author of the report. "Today the M2M market is dominated by individual business solutions serving the needs of individual users. In contrast, the developing consumer market requires integrated solutions that offer simplicity and one-stop-shop availability that is easily enabled. To get to this requires new and innovative business models".

According to Beecham Research, the M2M market is still small compared with the worldwide mobile handset business. Nevertheless, new network connections for mobile handsets are rapidly slowing in many markets - particularly in Europe and North America. On the other hand, those for M2M are speeding up. "Mobile Operators need this business", says Robin Duke-Woolley, Founder and CEO of Beecham Research.

Yet M2M is very different to the mobile handset business, even for consumer products. Although using less airtime, it offers low cost of sale and low churn together with stable revenues and margins. "M2M is all about creating new service opportunities, even when it comes to consumer products", continues Duke-Woolley. "What we are beginning to see is highly innovative, new ideas being translated into new product and service opportunities over the next few years that will change our lifestyles."