IoT Analytics: Cellular IoT module shipments rose 15% in H1 2026

TL;DR

• Global cellular IoT module shipments rose 15% year over year in H1 2026, according to IoT Analytics.
• LTE Cat 1 bis shipments increased about 34% year over year and contributed 56% of incremental market growth in H1 2026.
• The blended average selling price of cellular IoT modules rose about 2.5% year over year, while Chinese vendors held 59% of shipments outside China.

IoT Analytics said global cellular IoT module shipments rose 15% year over year in the first half of 2026. Growth accelerated in the second quarter, when shipments increased 20.9% from a year earlier and 15% from Q1 2026.

LTE Cat 1 bis was the main volume driver in H1 2026. Cat 1 bis module shipments increased about 34% year over year and accounted for 56% of the market's incremental shipment growth. Between Q1 and Q2 2026, Cat 1 bis shipments rose 45.3% sequentially and represented about three quarters of the total increase in cellular module shipments. IoT Analytics linked demand to tracking devices, POS terminals, IP cameras, and smart metering, and said Cat 1 bis could reach roughly 43% of cellular IoT module shipments by 2030.

IoT Analytics said supply-chain pressure returned in H1 2026. The blended average selling price of cellular IoT modules increased about 2.5% year over year after four consecutive quarters of annual declines. Vendors reported longer lead times across several module categories and pressure on memory, resistors, capacitors, PCBs, and other components.

IoT Analytics said the five largest cellular IoT module suppliers by shipment volume in H1 2026 were Quectel, China Mobile, Lierda, Fibocom, and Sunsea AIoT, all Chinese companies. Chinese vendors accounted for about 59% of cellular IoT module shipments outside China in H1 2026, up from about 35% in 2018. Quectel alone represented roughly 38% of shipments outside China, while Fibocom approached 10%. In embedded automotive applications, shipments from Chinese module suppliers grew around 33% year over year in H1 2026, compared with about 12% growth for the segment overall.