The 20 to 50 billion new devices coming online over the next few years — estimates vary — represent a massive opportunity for businesses, and not just technology businesses. Smarter devices and troves of sensor data can improve existing business models and lead to the creation of entirely new ones.
The device population explosion will lead to a data explosion that will spark the creation of businesses based on scalable, low-churn models in the coming year. Many of these businesses start with a hardware purchase, but none end there. For instance:
