ABI Research estimates that in 2015, more than 12.6 million devices, including LTE-compatible models, will ship worldwide.

ABI Research (News - Alert) provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies.

The question that remains, is why would M2M communication, which usually involves relatively low data-rates, migrate to 4G?

According to M2M practice director Sam Lucero,  "A few M2M applications do require lots of bandwidth and high throughput, and it is those applications - telematics (distributing multimedia content to vehicles) fixed wireless terminals (distributing a broadband connection), and industrial PDAs - that will benefit from 4G networks' capabilities."

There are also secondary applications that may benefit from WiMAX and LTE (News - Alert) . WiMAX may also be used for smart metering or AMI. The meters don't require much bandwidth, but some other smart grid elements within the feeder distribution network do. Many utilities deploy their own infrastructure as WiMAX (News - Alert) is something they can do and control themselves.

"4G offers several benefits for M2M," Lucero said. "The first, of course, is sheer bandwidth. 4G networks are also more spectrally efficient than 3G. Finally, there is the question of future-proofing: 4G networks are going to be around for quite a long time."

4G modules cost more because they contain more RF chains and larger processors. Price is also based on demand, and many M2M applications do only require low data rates.

"Low data rate applications won't migrate to 4G in the next five years," adds Lucero, "though towards the end of the decade they may, as 3G networks start to wind down."

ABI Research's M2M Market Forecastsdatabase, is the result of a three-stage process: information collection from primary and secondary sources, information organization, and information analysis. Unit shipment information was sourced from relevant module vendors, who also provided approximate ASP information and insight into overall shipment and ASP trends. In addition, ABI Research also took a "top down" approach in compiling this database, estimating the likely TAM over time for the main deployment segments and regions noted.