Overview

Passive IoT lets organizations track low-value, high-volume items without batteries. It does this by harvesting energy from radio frequencies, light, heat or motion, which makes it far cheaper than cellular IoT trackers. It develops along two connectivity paths. One is 3GPP Ambient IoT, led by Huawei and China Mobile, in which 5G-Advanced base stations read the tags. The other is Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, backed by Qualcomm and Wiliot, which needs gateways. Deployment has already begun. Walmart plans to roll out 90 million Wiliot tags across its stores and distribution centres by the end of 2026, and Royal Mail has tagged more than 900,000 rolling cages. This report assesses where passive IoT sits among cellular IoT and RFID, maps the value chain, and examines how it could extend connectivity from hundreds of millions of cellular devices to billions of currently untracked objects.

What the Full Report Will Cover

  • Technology landscape: The two connectivity paths, 3GPP Ambient IoT on 5G-Advanced (Release 19 for local coverage, Release 20 for wide area) and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi, and how each compares in maturity and infrastructure needs.
  • Positioning among connectivity technologies: Where passive IoT sits between battery-powered cellular IoT and short-range RFID, including RFID’s read-range and reader constraints.
  • Value chain and ecosystem: The five layers (chipset/IP, module/tag, network, operator/gateway and end user) and which players dominate each path.
    Opportunity for cellular IoT players: How operators can monetise existing base stations and a new ultra-low-cost device category, and the trade-off of lower revenue per connection.
  • Use cases and early deployments: Retail, logistics, cold chain, manufacturing and warehouses, and food and supermarkets, drawing on Walmart, Royal Mail, Vodafone, LG U+, Haier and Baosteel.
  • Outlook by time horizon: Remainder of 2026, 2027 (Release 20 standard freeze) and beyond 2027, as applications widen to buildings, agriculture and the smart home.
  • Impact on the ecosystem: How suppliers, enterprises and RFID vendors are affected, and why RFID suppliers and users are the most exposed.


Who Should Read This

  • Mobile operators and cellular IoT vendors assessing new connection volumes and enterprise services.
  • Chipset, module and tag manufacturers looking at a new ultra-low-cost device category.
  • RFID vendors and users facing competition from the cellular and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi paths.
  • Retail, logistics, cold-chain and manufacturing leaders evaluating item-level tracking.
  • Standards bodies, network equipment providers and system integrators working on 5G Advanced and Ambient IoT.
  • Investors and strategy teams following passive IoT and adjacent IoT markets.


Key Questions the Report Answers

  • What is passive IoT, and why does it matter for tracking items that cellular IoT is too costly to cover?
  • How do the 3GPP Ambient IoT and Bluetooth/Wi-Fi paths differ, and which is more commercially mature today?
  • How does passive IoT compare with RFID and cellular IoT in range, infrastructure and cost?
  • Who are the key players across the five layers of the value chain?
  • How can cellular IoT players benefit from passive IoT, and what does it mean for revenue per connection?
  • Which industries will adopt first, and what do the Walmart, Royal Mail, Vodafone and LG U+ deployments show?
  • What milestones should the market watch between 2026 and beyond 2027?
  • Why are RFID suppliers and users the most exposed group as passive IoT scales?