eSIM shipments grew by 83% last year to 309 million

Trusted Connectivity Alliance says growth was driven by new handset models, IoT devices and smartwatches.

Market monitoring data published today by Trusted Connectivity Alliance (TCA) showed significant growth in the eSIM market globally in 2020, from a low base, with eSIM shipments  reported by TCA’s members increasing 83% year-on-year to reach 309 million units.

The growth was predominantly driven by new eSIM-enabled handset models, IoT devices and smartwatches across the world.

Regulation such as the European eCall initiative – to summon emergency assitance automatically from vehicles – also contributed.

Platform deployments

The growth was also supported by the number of eSIM Subscription Manager (SM) platforms deployed globall rising from 270 in 2019 to 687 in 2020. They enable the remote provisioning and lifecycle management of eSIMs, increased from .

According to Counterpoint Emerging Opportunities Service, shipments of eSIM-based devices will reach almost two billion units by 2025, mainly driven by smartphones and enterprise IoT.

Separately…

Sim Local announced its partnership with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), a leader in eSIM management. Sim Local will provide an end-to-end eSIM service via G+D’s AirOn Platform, enabling rapid entry for mobile operators and MVNOs to the eSIM marketplace with minimal integration requirements.

This is Sim Local’s largest eSIM partnership so far, the company will be able to provide the core capability operators need to offer eSIM services through online or physical retail.

G+D’s market-leading Subscription Manager Data Preparation (SM-DP+) service generates eSIM profiles and maintains each operator’s virtual warehouse separately and securely. Sim Local’s UNITE platform provides a complete end-to-end eSIM solution for a truly seamless user-experience, with an unrivalled back-end management and reporting suite to match.

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