eSIM Archives - Counterpoint

Amdocs, IDEMIA Named Pacesetters in 2023 eSIM Orchestration Rankings

Thales, RedTea Mobile, LotusFlare, G+D, 1Global and 10TTech recognised as Leaders.
Valid, Moflix, Tata Communications, Tripica, Mobilise and Invigo emerged as Challengers.
Workz, Kigen, HPE and East Compeace categorized as Up-starters.

Seoul, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego, Taipei, Tokyo – July 17, 2024

Amdocs and IDEMIA have emerged as ‘Pacesetters’ from the Global eSIM Orchestration COmpetitive, Ranking, and Evaluation (CORE) evaluation, according to the 2023 edition of Counterpoint Research’s Global eSIM Landscape report.

Commenting on the eSIM provisioning rankings and the competitive landscape, Research Analyst Varun Gupta commented, “The eSIM industry is undergoing significant transition as more devices such as Smartphones, Smartwatches, Tablets and Laptops are coming with eSIM support. Apple recently launched its latest iPad Pro and iPad Air with eSIM-only support for cellular variant of the devices. Travel eSIM has emerged as a popular alternative for international travelers who are always on the go, providing seamless connectivity in most parts of the world. The demand for eSIM orchestration has rapidly increased as the industry shifts towards offering a fully digital experience for consumers. Device transfer has become a key use case for eSIM ecosystem players, driven by the growing adoption of eSIM-enabled smartphones, particularly in the North American market.”

Gupta further added, “We have analyzed and evaluated key companies in the eSIM value chain using our proprietary CORE framework, which maps active players according to their capabilities and success in the ecosystem. In this dynamic market environment, our evaluation criteria also changed, and we added multiple new criterion such as multi-tenancy, automation, support for MVNOs and others. The capability covers criteria such as SIM lifecycle management, BSS/OSS integration, Identity management, Analytics and support for Entitlement Servers while the ecosystem part covers criteria such as geographical reach, partnerships, and platform deployments. Parameters such as Analytics, Automation, Authentication and Entitlement Integration are increasingly becoming important for orchestration players to offer best capabilities through their platforms.”

Commenting on the research findings, Research Director Mohit Agarwal said, “Amdocs and IDEMIA emerged as Pacesetters in Counterpoint’s rankings for eSIM Orchestration. These two companies stand out from the rest of the market and demonstrate excellence in both capability and ecosystem parameters. On the capability side, Amdocs emerged as the best player with a very comprehensive all-round platform and a host of features for carriers and consumers. On the ecosystem side, Amdocs again emerged as the top player. Idemia came close due to its high number of partnerships in the ecosystem and higher platform deployments.”

Thales, RedTea Mobile, G+D, LotusFlare, 1Global and 10T Tech have emerged as Leaders in the eSIM provisioning market. Most of these players have significantly improved their orchestration platform offerings by adding the latest features. 10T Tech and RedTea Mobile showed the highest growth in enhancing their reach in the ecosystem. Thales improved a lot on the capability side along with G+D, as the traditional SIM players added a new set of features and partnerships to improve their offerings.

Tata Communications (Oasis Smart SIM), Valid, Tripica, Moflix and Invigo have emerged as Challengers, offering very capable platforms with strong features. While they have not yet achieved the desired market presence, their impressive capabilities position them well for future growth and increased market impact. Invigo is one of the players that improved the most overall compared to last year’s rankings.

Workz, HPE, Kigen and Eastcompeace are the Up-starters of 2023, as they saw strong success in expanding their ecosystems through more partnerships and platform deployments. They are likely to grow and be part of the Leaders as they work on improving the capabilities of their platforms.

Due to their specialization in specific market segments, 1oT and Nordic eSIM are categorized as niche players. Counterpoint believes that these companies have the potential to capitalize on emerging opportunities and evolve into Challengers and Leaders as they expand into more markets.

Counterpoint Research’s Global eSIM Landscape report is the most comprehensive report involving all the leading players in the eSIM ecosystem with multiple interviews and research spanning more than three months.

The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Global eSIM Landscape Report, 2023’ is available for subscribing clients. Please contact Counterpoint Research to gain access to the report.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in Technology products in the TMT industry. It services major technology firms and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analysis of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are experts in the industry with an average tenure of 13 years in the high-tech industry.

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press(at)counterpointresearch.com

Over 9 Billion eSIM-capable Devices to be Shipped by 2030

By 2030, nearly 70% of all cellular devices shipped will be eSIM/iSIM-capable driven by smartphones and cellular IoT modules.
eSIM/iSIM-capable devices are expected to grow at a CAGR of 22% between 2024 and 2030.
The installed base of xSIM-capable consumer devices is expected to exceed 2.5 billion units by 2030.
iSIM-capable devices will grow fastest, with shipments rising at a CAGR of 160% between 2024 and 2030.

Seoul, Beijing, Boston, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, San Diego, Taipei, Tokyo – July 4, 2024

Global xSIM-capable device shipments will exceed 9 billion units between 2024 and 2030, growing at a 22% CAGR during the period, according to Counterpoint’s latest eSIM Devices Market Outlook report. The projection includes all form factors, including hardware-based eSIM (eUICC), iSIM (iUICC), nuSIM and Soft SIM.

The industry has moved past an inflection point after the release of the US-exclusive eSIM-only iPhone in 2022 and is now entering a period of hyper growth. This is evidenced by the growing number of OEMs launching eSIM-capable devices. Currently, smartphones have the highest eSIM adoption rate on the consumer side. However, categories such as Connected Cars, Gateways and Routers and Drones, where physical SIMs can be very difficult to manage, stand to greatly benefit from eSIM or iSIM-based connectivity. In the long run, xSIM will become the default form factor for these industries.

Source: Global eSIM Landscape – Market Outlook and Forecast

The increasing adoption of this technology among global mobile network operators (MNOs) also support this hypothesis. Over 400 operators now support eSIM services globally, enabling an average of more than 50 consumer devices.

Commenting on eSIM’s high growth future across industries, Research Analyst Siddhant Cally said, “Key ecosystem players have started preparing to deploy eSIM beyond their flagship devices into mid-tier segments. The new eSIM-only iPad is another sign indicating that the future is eSIM. Other use cases such as Travel and Roaming will also greatly help in increasing eSIM adoption in the short term.”

By 2030, we expect iSIM-capable devices to account for a significant portion of the cellular device ecosystem. Commenting on iSIM’s expected high growth, Senior Analyst Ankit Malhotra said, “These are still very early days for iSIM. However, we expect iSIM adoption to pick up steam in the next three years. The technology has the potential to bring more efficiency to devices by lowering costs, size and complexity. This makes it ideal for use in a wide range of IoT applications, from smart home devices to industrial sensors.”

The comprehensive and in-depth report ‘Global eSIM Landscape’ is now available. Please contact Counterpoint Research to gain access to the report.

Click here to read about eSIM Enablement, eSIM Provisioning and eSIM Orchestration.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Follow Counterpoint Research

press(at)counterpointresearch.com

Counterpoint Conversations: Amdocs Using GenAI to Transform Telco Customer Care and Sales

Generative AI (GenAI) is developing into more than a buzzword as various industries now realize its benefits and wide range of applications. The telecom industry can also gain from GenAI with use cases such as network optimization, enhanced customer experience, content personalization and AI chatbots. At the recently concluded Amdocs APAC Analyst Summit in Singapore, Neil Shah, VP of Research at Counterpoint Research sat down with Ofir Daniel, Head of Platforms Marketing at Amdocs, to talk about the strategy and use cases of GenAI for telcos.

The interview

Key takeaways from the discussion

• Beyond traditional AI, Amdocs sees GenAI as a powerful tool to accelerate day-to-day business processes. Amdocs has analyzed 600 ideas and mapped over 120 use cases across seven domains.
• Amdocs’ new ‘amAIz’ platform is designed to integrate telco workflows with GenAI capabilities. This includes customer care, sales, end-to-end service orchestration, inventory management and even troubleshooting.
• amAIz is a scalable platform that will allow telcos to bring GPTs to the telco domain.
• Initial GenAI use cases focus on sales and customer care where AI chatbots can manage routine customer enquiries and offer targeted recommendations.
• GenAI can also streamline B2B sales by generating proposals and optimizing the pricing based on customer profiles that suit their needs and usage patterns, including data usage and travel habits. This will help sales representatives to close more deals and increase revenue.
• Besides building the proprietary Copilot using its IP and software, Amdocs has also partnered with Microsoft to integrate Copilot assistant with its Customer Experience Platform (CEP), and to work with its OSS and BSS systems.
• Operators are in the initial stages of testing Copilot applications, and it will take a while before Copilot moves to autopilot.

Analyst takeaways:

• The biggest challenge faced by today’s telcos remains the same – monetization and cost savings in leveraging newer technologies whether its 5G, AI or Cloud.
• With 5G, the entire telco architecture has been transformed allowing telcos to cloudify everything beyond the RAN and drive various levels of automation to increase efficiency, scalability and drive costs down.
• However, the different levels of automation, right from RAN and Transport to Core networks, can be further enabled by AI advancement as the industry shifts to GenAI.
• Players such as Amdocs are innovating on GenAI capabilities to enable intelligent digital transformation with a platform approach by striking the right partnerships with hyperscalers as well as AI-enablers such as OpenAI, Mistral and NVIDIA.
• Amdocs is bringing its GenAI demos and use cases to telcos and potentially similar verticals. Its amAIz platform targets multiple domains such as customer care, CRM, billing, services orchestration and network troubleshooting.
• Amdocs is a one-stop shop and a leader for anything related to software, IT, services, automation if you are a telco (or any big enterprise) with unparalleled knowledge, capabilities and experience in their digitally transformational journey. This capability and experience expand across operations from billing and marketing to customer experience and analytics.
• The GenAI-led digital transformation is real and is bringing about some significant use cases.

Podcast #77: Exploring eSIM Benefits for India’s Digital Growth

eSIM technology is seeing rapid growth. It is being adopted by OEMs in premium smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets, freeing up space for sleeker designs. In our previous podcasts, we spoke about the global eSIM market, innovative business models from various companies, eSIM testing, interoperability, and much more.

In this latest episode of ‘The Counterpoint Podcast’, we look at eSIM opportunities in India, one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. Host Mohit Agrawal is joined by two Kigen officials – VP of Marketing Bee-Hayes Thakore and Regional VP Solutions Mayank Sharma. Kigen is among the companies named as leaders in Counterpoint’s latest eSIM rankings. It is a fast-growing company, renowned across the industry for its eSIM enablement. Kigen also pioneered iSIM technology.

Click the play button to listen to the podcast

You can read the podcast transcript here.

Key takeaways from the discussion

Global eSIM adoption:

• Over 400 operators globally offer eSIM, and the market is expected to grow 3-4x by 2027.
• With increasing use cases beyond smartphones and automotive (including wearables, smart meters, logistics and telematics), eSIM adoption is on a positive trajectory.
• Customer premises equipment (CPE) supporting fixed wireless access (FWA) is also driving eSIM adoption.

Initiatives in India:

• Kigen has established a fully GSMA-certified SAS-UP data center in India’s Noida for local eSIM manufacturing and procurement.
• Kigen is actively collaborating with Indian manufacturers to leverage eSIM technology.
• It is supporting the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative by making it possible for local manufacturers to compete globally.
• Kigen is working to make the adoption process simpler for manufacturers by supporting different types of devices.
• It is also streamlining the provisioning process.
• Factory profile provisioning enables manufacturers to select the operator connectivity in the later stages of the production cycle, thus increasing flexibility.

Key challenges:

• Educating consumers about the benefits of eSIM technology is one of the biggest challenges.
• Ensuring the affordability and long-term viability of eSIM-enabled devices for complex devices like smart meters is another challenge.
• There is also a need for shared business models and partnerships to make devices and technology affordable.
• Managing multiple operator profiles while also ensuring compatibility across different regions and circles can be challenging for device makers.

Opportunities:

• In terms of opportunities, secure eSIM technology in infrastructure projects, and smart meters can be beneficial.
• eSIM can offer a secure way to connect devices for banking and mobile payments using companion devices.
• Growth in companion devices can benefit greatly from eSIM technology.

Analyst takeaways

• Kigen is looking at telematics and fixed wireless access (FWA) as the key growth areas for eSIM. FWA is a force multiplier as it enables connectivity in areas that are not covered by fiber. Connectivity, in turn, spurs demand for other consumer and enterprise devices such as point-of-sale (POS) terminals.
• Kigen has made significant investments in India as it views it as a focus market. It has established a SAS-UP certified manufacturing facility in India. India is the fastest-growing IoT market and an early commitment from Kigen will go a long way in establishing it within the Indian manufacturing ecosystem.
• Smart meters represent the biggest cellular IoT opportunity at the moment and for the next few years. India will see over 200 million smart meters installed over the next 4-5 years, offering a big opportunity for Kigen and other players in the ecosystem.

Podcast chapter markers:

1:20 – Mayank and Bee introduce themselves.

4:28 – Bee talks about the global adoption of eSIM.

8:37 – Mayank talks about how eSIM helps Indian operators.

10:23 – Bee talks about how eSIM benefits consumers.

12:45 – Bee sheds light on the impact of eSIM on digital consumption.

15:21 – Mayank highlights some of Kigen’s initiatives in India.

16:26 – Bee talks about the challenges and opportunities in the Indian market.

20:40 – Mayank on how Kigen supports various devices across consumer and enterprise domains.

22:42 – Mayank on how to embed connectivity in factory profile provisioning.

24:59 – Bee and Mayank’s closing remarks on expectations for 2024.

Also available for listening/download on:

Whitepaper: Unlocking eSIM Potential for Travel MVNOs and Beyond

Unlocking eSIM Potential for Travel MVNOs and Beyond

WHITEPAPER

PDF | 13 pages
Published date: June 2024

Overview
Table of Contents

Awareness of eSIM technology has been rising, not only due to the eSIM-only iPhone available exclusively in the US but also because of its growing adoption in specific use cases like travel, where it proves to be cost-effective and convenient. MVNOs have quickly identified this opportunity and are responding to increasing consumer demand with eSIM solutions.

To fully leverage the benefits of eSIM, MVNOs are seeking vendor partners who can provide Remote Service Provisioning (RSP) platforms. This whitepaper explores the unique needs of MVNOs in sectors such as travel, highlighting different challenges faced by the MVNOs and how these needs are best met by RSP vendors offering flexible and customized solutions. This whitepaper also highlights how various operators of varying sizes and industries beyond travel can collaborate with RSP vendors like Simlessly Inc. to reap the benefits of eSIM technology.

• Introduction

• Travel emerges as early adopter of eSIM

• RSP – the key element in the eSIM jigsaw

• What do MVNOs expect from their RSP vendor?

• Unlocking opportunities: eSIM’s advantages extend beyond travel

• Key takeaways

LEAD AUTHORS

PARTNER

Unlocking eSIM Potential for MVNOs Ft. Ankit Malhotra

Our Senior Analyst Ankit Malhotra will be speaking at the Unlocking eSIM Potential for MVNOs on 4th June 2024.

About the session:

Date: 4th June, 2024

Time: 10:00-10:20 BST

Where: Virtual Event

Keynote: The growth of eSIM – What is next?

How has the eSIM deployment impacted the telecoms sector over the last 2 years? Are GSMA’s predictions that by 2028 half of the connections will be made via eSIM accurate?
How will the new eSIM specifications affect the growth of the IoT market and related business opportunities?
What are the remaining obstacles to a wider deployment?

About the event:

The event provides valuable insights into the benefits of adopting eSIM, including enhanced flexibility, improved customer experiences, streamlined onboarding, and expanded service offerings. Discover the game-changing potential of eSIM technology for MVNOs at our upcoming event. Expert speakers will delve into technical aspects, such as integrating eSIM into MVNO operations, covering provisioning, activation, and security. They will also talk about how eSIM empowers customers to switch between plans and networks seamlessly.

To register and learn more about the event click here

Podcast #74: The Future of eSIM, Travel With eSIM Plus

Continuing our eSIM podcast series, we talk to eSIM Plus, a worldwide virtual phone number and mobile data provider. It uses eSIM to overcome digital boundaries and offer comprehensive solutions. eSIM Plus offers a virtual phone number along with flexible mobile data plans tailored to the specific needs of both individuals and businesses.

eSIM Plus seeks to catapult customers into a new era of mobile connectivity based on vast global reach, adaptable solutions and local pricing for global connectivity. The price and convenience of deployment will improve the user experience and serve as the foundation for an “always connected” society.

In this latest Counterpoint podcast, host Ankit Malhotra is joined by eSIM Plus CEO Dina Tsybulskaya to delve into how eSIM Plus plans to go beyond present-day connectivity. The discussion also covers how eSIM Plus is forming synergies between critical sectors like finance and telecom to support advanced technologies like cryptocurrency and leverage the power of blockchain for efficient operations. Dina also emphasizes integrating eSIM with satellite services, disrupting the existing network core and shifting towards global balancing of prices.

Click the play button to listen to the podcast

You can read the podcast transcript here.

Podcast Chapter Markers:

00:54 – Dina introduces eSIM Plus and the solutions it offers.

02:39 – Dina highlights some of the eSIM industry trends.

09:15 – Dina talks about advancements and innovations from eSIM Plus.

15:28 – Dina talks about traditional telcos, eSIM app and balancing global pricing.

18:30 – Dina on how eSIM is becoming a traveler’s backpack essential.

23:40 – Dina talks about how eSIM can be beneficial in mission-critical use cases.

26:20 – Dina on future eSIM growth expectations.

Also available for listening/download on:

Counterpoint Conversations: Discussing eSIMs and Telco Strategies with Workz

For more than 20 years, Workz has been at the forefront of connection solutions. Its cutting-edge subscriber management solutions give Telcos and IoT providers a significant competitive edge that supports the expansion of their businesses. In this episode of Counterpoint Conversations, Senior Analyst Ankit Malhotra has a riveting discussion about the quick uptake of eSIM by Telcos and the significance of streamlining eSIM solutions to gain traction across a range of industries with Workz CIO Edwin Haver.

The Interview

eSIM Getting Mainstream

• Operators now recognize the benefits of enabling eSIMs. The number of operators implementing eSIM globally is rapidly increasing.
• While eSIM is becoming more popular, particularly among high-end handsets and some mid-tier devices, its adoption is still limited due to the lack of eSIM compatibility in lower-tier handsets, which still account for a sizable portion of the device ecosystem.
eSIM Taking Centre Stage in Telco Strategy
• Digital transformation is propelling the move towards online subscriptions and eSIM downloads, even though adoption varies by region.
• MVNOs have acted quickly to take advantage of the chance to roll out eSIM for traveling customers, which in turn helped to significantly advance eSIM adoption.

eSIM for Telcos, Telcos for eSIM

• Implementing intelligent profile delivery, which recognizes device and eSIM capabilities to deliver the right profile in real-time, is a significant advancement.
• Effective administration of eSIMs and their distribution is necessary, although channel management is a difficulty, especially in regions where distributors are prevalent.
• The development of eSIM technology for IoT will witness a drastic overhaul with SGP.32, which provides greater flexibility and does away with the requirement for platform integration across various carriers, enabling more economical and effective handling of eSIMs.

Analyst Takeaways

• The convergence of multiple forces, including advanced standards, the growing need for digitization by businesses, and operators changing their strategy to monetize services, to propel the adoption of eSIM, making the next few years extremely important and exciting for the eSIM market.
• Although there will undoubtedly be obstacles in the path, Counterpoint thinks that cooperation across different industry participants will be essential to eSIM adoption in a variety of industrial verticals.
• As we plunge deeply into an era of digital transformation, Workz finds itself extremely well-positioned in the industry to lead the eSIM evolution in the cellular connectivity market.

Counterpoint Conversations: Amdocs Simplifies eSIM Transfer for Operators and End Users

Switching from a physical SIM to an eSIM has become easier over the years. However, the process of transferring an eSIM to a new phone is not always straightforward and may not be supported by all mobile operators. At MWC 2024, we saw some interesting solutions for making the entire eSIM transfer process and user experience smoother. Mohit Agrawal, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, sat down with Yuval Mayron, General Manager of Amdocs IoT, to talk about the new and simple eSIM transfer experience.

The Interview

Key takeaways from the discussion

Focus on customer segmentation:

• eSIM experiences need to be tailored to meet the needs of consumers, enterprises, and wholesale partners.

Seamless transition:

• To replicate a familiar physical SIM-like experience that customers are used to while introducing digital benefits.
• Simplifying the process to avoid user frustration when switching.
• Offer simple actions to restore or redownload the same eSIM.
• Transferring physical SIM to eSIM is the first step, operators also need to prepare eSIM use cases and future functionalities.

eSIM management:

• Operators should allow customers to manage their eSIM via various channels.
• It can be via the operator’s app, web portal and also from the device’s settings.

Streamline eSIM implementation:

• The solution offered by Amdocs simplifies eSIM implementation for operators by offloading complexities.
• This ensures a smooth customer journey and cost savings for operators while offering superior user experience.

Analyst Takeaways:

• Although eSIM represents a significant advancement, consumer adoption remains sluggish. The primary deterrent to widespread adoption is the disparity in user experience compared to traditional physical SIM cards.
• The seamless transfer of eSIM between devices, akin to the simplicity of the physical SIM process, remains a critical obstacle.
• Amdocs leads the eSIM orchestration rankings according to Counterpoint Research and has consistently spearheaded efforts to enhance consumer experiences. The seamless transfer of eSIM is poised to further solidify Amdocs’ position ahead of its competitors.

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The interview

Key takeaways from the discussion

Analyst takeaways:

Related Posts

Click the play button to listen to the podcast

Key takeaways from the discussion

Global eSIM adoption:

Initiatives in India:

Key challenges:

Opportunities:

Analyst takeaways

Podcast chapter markers:

Also available for listening/download on:

Related Posts

Unlocking eSIM Potential for Travel MVNOs and Beyond

PDF | 13 pages Published date: June 2024

Siddhant Cally

Recommended Reads

About the session:

About the event:

Click the play button to listen to the podcast

Podcast Chapter Markers:

Also available for listening/download on:

Related Posts

The Interview

eSIM Getting Mainstream

eSIM for Telcos, Telcos for eSIM

Analyst Takeaways

Related Posts

The Interview

Key takeaways from the discussion

Focus on customer segmentation:

Seamless transition:

eSIM management:

Streamline eSIM implementation:

Analyst Takeaways:

Related Posts

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PDF | 13 pages
Published date: June 2024