Internet of Things Eight Business Models and Multi-centers Lead the Future

Needless to say, like the Internet of the past, the Internet of Things has become an unstoppable trend of the times. The Internet of Things has penetrated into various fields such as smart grids, smart homes, smart transportation, smart logistics, and smart medical services. It has been integrated into the development process of today’s society, which has, to some extent, improved human life and changed the face of the world. However, we must realize that the development of the Internet of Things is far from being as fast as we originally expected. Experts and scholars have pointed out more than once that there are still many bottlenecks in the current development of the Internet of Things. Without an effective business model, it is undoubtedly one of them. The key point.

At present, the academic and industry research on the business model of the Internet of Things is still at a very early stage. According to the different primary and secondary affiliations among the participating parties in the business model and the differences in the customer's value creation subject, we can divide the present and future possible Internet of Things business models into the following eight types:

First, the operator-led type: In this business model, telecom operators dominate, regardless of the development of the business, promotion, or the construction and maintenance of the platform, the operator is the main force. Specifically, it can be further subdivided into three sub-modes: operators directly provide network connection modes, operators develop cooperatively and promote modes, and operators independently develop and popularize modes. The direct network connection mode provided by operators means that telecom operators provide channel services directly to enterprise customers using M2M services instead of system integrators or other service providers. The carrier's cooperative development and promotion model is the cooperation between the operator and the system integrator, the system integrator develops the business, the telecommunication operator is responsible for the service platform construction, network operation, service promotion and charging. Generally speaking, the telecommunication operators in this model Still dominant. The carrier's independent development and promotion model means that all carriers' self-operating models mean that telecom operators set up their own platform development services and provide them directly to customers. In the three-seeded model, the cooperative development and promotion model of operators is currently the mainstream mode for domestic telecom operators to enter the market. For example, China Mobile and China Telecom all cooperate with leading system integrators in the industry, and operators promote industry application products for customers. The carrier's independent development and promotion model is due to the higher initial investment requirements of the operating companies, so there are few companies adopting this approach. At present, there are no cases in which operators independently build platforms and develop services and provide them directly to customers.

The scope of the operator-oriented business model is mainly applicable to corporate customers, mainly for acquisition and location applications, and has a wide range of applications. It can be applied to environmental protection monitoring, automatic water meter copying, smart parking, elevator monitoring, and logistics. Monitoring, intelligent transportation and other fields.

Second, the system integrator-oriented type: the system integrator leases the network of the credit carrier, and provides services to users through the entire solution joint channel; from the operator's point of view, that is, the carrier traverses the system integrator indirectly to the customer. Provide internet connection service. This is the most used business model. Because IoT applications are internal to individuals within a particular industry, and the characteristics of enterprise specialization are obvious, professional system integrators within the industry are required to provide services. In particular, industries with high barriers to industry and complex application requirements require system integration. The existence of business. Such system integrators are generally third-party companies that have strong hardware and software development and integration capabilities and have a high position in the industry. In this type of business model, system integrators are mainly profit winners and income distributors. The level of technology is the core of this type of business model. The main users are enterprise customers. The actual application type is mainly collection. However, due to the non-subjectivity of operators and the short-range nature of the network, the scope of application should be a fixed area space. The real-time collection of data within the category of detection, specific applications can be applied to environmental monitoring, automatic water meter copying, smart parking, elevator monitoring, automatic vending machines.

Third, software and hardware integrator-led ("iPhone" model): In this model, a powerful hardware and software integrator, through the integration of its own hardware manufacturing or software development field, such as the creation of application software development platform, Actions such as cooperation with operators and software developers form a comprehensive individual-led eco-system to explore or even create new profitable points to drive the development of the entire Internet of Things industry. This model is mainly derived from Apple's "iPhone" business model, Apple's cooperation with operators, while sharing the operator's related income of more than 30%, but also through the smart terminal system iOS, APP store STORE, successfully promote the majority of The application developer develops various types of application and various price applications for the system.

In this way, at the same time of selling hardware, it also opened up new profit points for application download, and thus achieved great success in the mobile Internet market. As far as the domestic market is concerned, there are relatively few software and hardware integrators in the Internet of Things at present, and they are mainly small and medium-sized enterprises. They still do not have the ability to dominate the IoT industry chain. Therefore, this business model has no precedent in the country, but I believe that in the next 5-15 years, China may also promote the "Internet" in the networking field.

This type of business model is applicable to the convenience and control areas related to the individual user market. It can be selected and used by the user through the development of related industry application downloads on existing smart phone terminal systems or on future proprietary Internet of Things terminals. The Internet of Things software platform and application that meets their needs, and at the same time create a new IoT system ecosystem.

Fourth, the software content integrator-led: This type of business model mainly refers to google's "Android" business model. Similar to the "iPhone model", this type of business model requires integrators and operators to develop corresponding software and applications. The platform also requires the participation of a large number of application developers and advertisers. Compared with the "iPhone model", the core of the system is the software content integrator. The hardware manufacturer is the main type of cooperation. At the same time, the integrator has more resources and greater dominance in the content, and the advertising effect is more concentrated. .

This type of business model is Google's success story in the mobile Internet. The difference with the Apple model is that its success depends on the powerful software development capabilities of such companies as Google, as well as the generation, integration, and search capabilities of content. In the application of the Internet of Things, with the development of technological development in various stages and the enhancement of the importance of content, the application scope of this type of business model is further expanded. The core of its application lies in the combination of software and content and its introduction into the market. . From the application type point of view, various types of applications can be involved, and the main determinant of its success is the development cycle. Representative applications are location services, smart logistics, smart homes, digital cities and smart campuses, especially Content-oriented details of the application of the industry is still prominent.

Fifth, government-led: This type of business model is generally set up by the government and other public utilities departments to build a public platform, customers rent or purchase platforms and related hardware and software products, and pay the relevant communications costs. In this type of mode, GPS vehicle positioning and video surveillance are the most widely used applications. It is also possible for carriers to build related public platforms. This type of business model is the most direct manifestation of the people's livelihood application of the Internet of Things. It can permeate all stages of the development of the Internet of Things. The government plays a key role in it, and its grasp of technology and market is very important. At the same time, in the early stages of development, The necessary capital investment is also indispensable. In the early days of the development of the Internet of Things, this type of business model can be used as the main policy promotion model for the market. The main public utility platform is built in such a model, allowing users to experience the application of the Internet of Things for free under the government's cost. It is beneficial to cultivate relevant user habits and lay the foundation for other types of business promotion in the Internet of Things industry.

Sixth, user-oriented: In this type of model, the customer assumes the full cost of the Internet of Things platform and the establishment of the entire service system. In this type of business model, the user is the only core, and other system individuals play a supporting role. In general, users in such industries are relatively strong. The Internet of Things (IoT) applications under this type of model generally have privacy requirements. They have higher security requirements for the perception and transmission of information, and it is difficult to expand across industries. Typical applications include power monitoring in the power industry, hydrological monitoring in the water industry, phenology monitoring in meteorology, pollution source monitoring in the environmental protection industry, product monitoring in the chemical industry, and traffic condition monitoring in the transportation industry.

Seventh, cooperative operation type: A cooperative business model refers to the cooperation of two or more participants in the industry chain. Equipment suppliers, operators, system integrators, software developers, etc., proceed from their respective interests. An industry alliance will jointly develop and promote the Internet of Things business on the premise of equality and mutual benefit of all parties. A typical example is the operator's joint system integrator, cooperative development, and cooperative promotion. For example, Norwegian mobile operator Telenor and Telit cooperated with M2M services. This business model applies to all types of IoT services.

Eighth, cloud aggregation: Cloud aggregation is a kind of cloud computing that is based on cloud computing. It focuses on user services. It integrates internal and external resources for target markets according to existing operational platforms and business capabilities to form users, businesses, and other markets. Participants jointly create a value network business model. Its main feature is that, under a certain security mechanism, it forms a full and free flow of information and realizes high value-added value through a large number of rapid information transmissions. Each subject attracts user resources and creates value through continuous input-output activities.

In the future application of the Internet of Things, the boundaries between various types of individuals may become blurred. Some powerful individuals may assume multiple roles in the system and become so-called ecological leaders; some small enterprises can still use large companies. The gap left by the growth of space, explore the potential market single demand point, and strengthen in a franchise area. In this way, a system similar to the overall system of mutual benefit and symbiosis of the ecosystem is formed, and the system maintains strong vitality in the process of continuous renewal and individual replacement. This kind of business model is one of the ideal modes for the future development of the Internet of Things, and it is also the premise and basis for truly forming a converged network that covers every corner of life.

The author believes that, as a whole, the business model of the Internet of Things has evolved from a single center to a multi-center, with the trend of a single entity creating value as its main focus and diversified entities jointly creating values. The domestic Internet of Things industry has just started and the business model is still immature. Because operators have the advantages of economic strength and user group size, the current Internet of Things industry is dominated by operators, and domestic operators have even claimed their M2M services. Is the so-called Internet of Things. However, with the development of IoT-related technologies and applications, new technologies and applications continue to emerge. The strengths of equipment vendors, service providers, and integrators continue to increase, and the complexity of the Internet of Things business has greatly increased. The strength of operators alone seems to have been Not enough to dominate the entire industry chain. Therefore, the future of the Internet of Things will usher in the jungle era of multi-centers.