IoT Antenna Market (2026-2036)

The growth of this market is mainly driven by the rising number of radio interfaces carried in each connected device, which increases antenna content per unit rather than only unit volumes; the migration of low-power wide-area deployments from legacy cellular technologies to NB-IoT and LTE-M as operators retire second and third generation networks; the addition of satellite connectivity to terrestrial IoT devices through non-terrestrial network standards, which requires additional antenna elements and new frequency bands; and the growth of asset tracking, smart metering, industrial automation and telematics applications that depend on reliable radio performance in constrained enclosures. In addition, the tightening of radio equipment certification and cybersecurity requirements, the adoption of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 in the 6 GHz band, the growth of multi-band GNSS for precise positioning, and the shift of device makers toward pre-certified antenna components and design support services are further supporting the growth of this market.

The IoT Antenna Market, also referred to as the antennas for IoT market, embedded antenna market, or connected device antenna market, comprises the antenna components and assemblies designed into devices that connect to networks for machine-to-machine and internet of things applications. The market includes embedded antennas mounted inside the device enclosure, such as chip and surface-mount ceramic antennas, flexible printed circuit antennas, printed circuit board trace antennas and stamped metal antennas; external antennas attached to or mounted on the device or its installation, such as terminal-mount and whip antennas, magnetic and adhesive mount antennas, puck and through-hole antennas and panel antennas; and combination antennas that house several radio and positioning elements in a single housing. The market ecosystem extends from antenna designers and manufacturers to radio module makers, device original equipment manufacturers, contract manufacturers, test and certification laboratories, network operators and the regulators whose spectrum allocations and equipment requirements determine what an antenna must support.

The economics of this market are driven less by device unit growth than by antenna content per device. A connected device that once carried a single cellular antenna now commonly carries a cellular antenna, a positioning antenna, a short-range antenna for commissioning or local connectivity, and in many designs a second cellular element for diversity. Each additional radio interface adds an antenna, and each additional band an antenna must cover makes that antenna harder to design and more valuable. This is why antenna revenue grows faster than connected device shipments and why the design support that accompanies the component has become part of what is purchased.

Component demand across connectivity markets has been strong. In the third quarter of fiscal 2026, ended 26 June 2026, TE Connectivity reported net sales of USD 5.16 billion, up 14% reported and 12% organically, with Industrial Solutions sales of USD 2.58 billion, up 21.9% reported and 21.0% organically, including growth of 16.3% in automation and connected living, and record orders of USD 5.7 billion, up 27%, with double-digit order growth in all businesses. Growth of 16.3% in automation and connected living, within an industrial segment growing 21.0% organically, indicates that demand for connectivity components in connected and automated applications is expanding well ahead of general industrial production. In the second quarter of 2026, Amphenol Corporation reported net sales of USD 8,758.1 million, up 55% in U.S. dollars and 30% organically, with orders of USD 10.7 billion and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.23 to 1, and guided to third-quarter sales of USD 9.3 billion to USD 9.4 billion. A book-to-bill ratio of 1.23 to 1 indicates that orders are being placed ahead of shipments across the interconnect industry.

The most significant technical change affecting antenna design is the extension of cellular standards into satellite. Normative 3GPP work on non-terrestrial networks began in December 2019 under Release 17 and has continued with enhancements through Releases 18, 19 and 20, covering NR-NTN for broadband and reliable services and IoT-NTN based on NB-IoT and eMTC for massive machine-type communication, across approximately 1 GHz to 30 GHz with dedicated S, L, Ka and Ku bands. IoT-NTN is built on NB-IoT and eMTC, which means the same low-power device categories used in terrestrial metering and tracking are being specified to operate over satellite, and supporting both requires either a wider-band antenna or an additional element in bands the device did not previously use.

Commercial activity confirms that this is no longer a standards exercise. According to a Global Mobile Suppliers Association summary published in September 2025, 170 mobile and satellite operator partnerships had been publicly announced across 80 countries and territories as at August 2025, with 34 operators in 25 markets having launched commercial services. Where an asset tracker or a remote sensor is expected to maintain connectivity outside terrestrial coverage, the antenna must deliver performance in satellite bands with a link budget far less forgiving than a terrestrial one, which raises the engineering content and the price of the antenna.

Regulation is simultaneously raising the cost of getting a radio product to market. The cybersecurity requirements of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2022/30 under the Radio Equipment Directive became applicable on 1 August 2025, requiring internet-connected radio equipment placed on the European Union market to meet network protection, personal data protection and fraud prevention essential requirements. Together with national equipment authorisation regimes, this has increased the testing and documentation burden on every device containing a radio, and because antenna performance determines radiated emissions and receiver sensitivity, the antenna is central to whether a device passes. Device makers have responded by favouring pre-certified antenna components supplied with reference designs, measured performance data and design support, which shifts value from the physical part toward the engineering service attached to it.

Spectrum policy continues to add bands rather than replace them. The opening of the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, the continued use of sub-1 GHz industrial, scientific and medical bands for long-range low-power links, the allocation of mid-band spectrum for fifth generation networks and the addition of satellite bands through non-terrestrial networks all coexist, and devices increasingly need to operate across several of them. The consequence for antenna suppliers is that multi-band and multi-protocol designs, which command the highest prices and require the most design support, are becoming the standard requirement rather than the exception.

The market includes connectivity and interconnect groups such as TE Connectivity and Amphenol, passive component manufacturers including Murata Manufacturing, Kyocera AVX, Yageo through Pulse Electronics, Johanson Technology and Abracon, connector and electronics groups including Molex, and antenna specialists including Taoglas, Antenova, Ignion, 2J Antennas, Mobile Mark, Panorama Antennas, Unictron Technologies and Siglink Technology, alongside Ezurio in wireless modules and antennas. Participants compete on radiated performance in realistic enclosures, band and protocol coverage, size and integration flexibility, availability of reference designs and measured data, certification support, supply continuity and lead time, and total cost including the engineering effort a customer must expend to achieve performance.

At the same time, the market faces challenges, including the compression of antenna volume as devices shrink while band requirements expand, the dependence of achieved performance on the customer device design rather than on the component alone, price pressure from commoditised single-band parts and low-cost regional suppliers, the engineering cost of supporting customers through design and certification, and exposure to raw material and manufacturing cost volatility. As a result, suppliers that combine multi-band and multi-protocol design capability, credible measured performance data, strong certification and design support, and reliable supply at scale are expected to capture the largest share of growth over the forecast period.