Internet of Things - Industry Influence Study

INTERNET OF THINGS | An Industry Inﬂuence Study July 2014

Copyright © 2013 Appinions. All rights reserved.
The Internet Of Things - An Industry Influence Study | July 2014 Copyright © 2014 Appinions Inc. All rights reserved.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Key Insights
Net Influence Scores

The Most Influential

Page 4
Page 5

The Most Influential Companies
The Most Influential Executives
The Most Influential Industrial Internet Companies

Page 7 
Page 8
Page 10
Deep Dives
Top Sectors
Influential Products
Key Themes
Marketplace Trends
Pages 11-12 
Pages 13-14  
Pages 15-16
Pages 17-21

Appendix
Our Methodology for Measuring Influence
Page 24
About Appinions
Page 25

2

Introduction
3
Appinions applies our patented technology to calculate the Net Inﬂuence Score (NIS) for any person  
or company who as expressed a topically relevant opinion and elicited a reaction from others. We completed
full-text analysis on over 100 Million documents plus social media posts for this research.  
 
A more complete discussion of our methodology is included at the conclusion of this report.
About Our Research
The internet already connects everyone and it’s about to connect everything. The ubiquity
of always-on connectivity, the declining price and increasing versatility of sensors, and the
benefits of remote information and control is prompting a new generation of devices ranging
from doorknobs to thermostats to refridgerators to lightbulbs.
From the largest technology and manufacturing companies to a cavalcade of startups, the
Internet of Things is exploding.
To understand this emerging market and discover who is demonstrating influence in the
marketplace, the data journalists at Appinions analyzed hundreds of millions of news, blog,
forum, and social media posts from March through June 2014.
In this report we reveal the overall influence trend, list top 10 most influential companies
and executives, and look at the different segments of this emerging market and the large
and small companies that are demonstrating measurable influence in this marketplace.

4

Key Insights
WHAT WE LEARNED WHILE ANALYZING INFLUENCE:

•  Apple’s announcement of HomeKit, a platform to unite connected home devices
under a single app, propelled them to the top of the pack.
•  Home automation is the most popular branch of Internet of Things technology with
large companies like Apple, Google, Philips, Samsung, and Belkin all looking to
get more involved.
•  Even though Apple is out in front for now, Microsoft, and Cisco have all been in
the #1 spot at some point in the past 90 days.
•  The most influential products and companies could be divided into several major
sectors: home automation, software platforms, connectivity devices, and home
security products.

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3/31/2014 4/10/2014 4/20/2014 4/30/2014 5/10/2014 5/20/2014 5/30/2014 6/9/2014 6/19/2014
Weekly Number of Opinions Net Influence Score
Intel announced a new
reporting structure to
highlight the impact of
IoT on the bottom line.
- TMC Net
Underscoring bullishness
on the “Internet of
Things”, Zebra acquires
Motorola’s Enterprise
business for $3.45 billion.
- Information Week
Apple has announced
their first Home
Automation
Certification initiative
called HomeKit.
- Slash Gear
Microsoft announced
an upcoming Windows
on the Internet of
Things [platform].
- PC World
Internet of Things Inﬂuence: The 90 Day Trend
Cisco made 3
investments in IoT
[startups] Alchemist
Accelerator , Ayla, and
Evrythng.
- Red Orbit
Nest —which Google
acquired in January —
announced it was buying
home-monitoring camera
developer Dropcam.
- CMS Wire
InfluenceScore
OpinionVolume
5

6
Influence in the IoT market is heavily dominated by major tech brands like Apple, Google, Intel,
and Microsoft.
The top 3 influencers were all involved in connected home:
•  Apple took the #1 spot by announcing HomeKit, a development platform to integrate
existing and future smart home technology into the Apple iOS so that end users can use a
single app for all home controls.
•  Google’s recent acquisition of smart thermostat maker Nest Labs and Nest’s subsequent
acquisition of security cam firm Dropcam pushed Nest and Google to second and third.
In terms of individuals, Philips’ CEO Eric Rondolat was the most influential in the market,
speaking enthusiastically about their partnership with Apple’s HomeKit framework.
Privacy and cybersecurity appear to be important concerns as three executives made the top
10 expressing opinions about those issues: Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith, HP Chief
Technologist Charlie Bess, and Aten Labs Founder Dan Tentler.
MAJOR TECH BRANDS DOMINATE
The Most Influential

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
The 10 Most Influential Internet of Things Companies
Samsung announced the launch of
Samsung Smart Home … Home
automation with a single app.
- Source: Yahoo News 04/02/2014
Apple announced partners for its
HomeKit developer platform: Texas
Instruments, Philips, Haier,
Netatmo, Withings, Honeywell,
Marvell, Osram and Broadcom.
- Source: The Guardian 06/02/2014
[Google] paid $3.2bn for
Nest Labs, maker of "smart
home" appliances.
- Source: Bdlive 04/02/2014
Vodafone announced plans to Cobra
Automotive Technologies [strengthening]
its hand in the M2M and connected cars.
- Source: Mobile Money Live 06/16/2014
RANK
NIS
1
757
Apple
2
549
Nest
3
243
Google
4
162
Intel
5
129
Microsoft
6
100
Cisco
7
94
Samsung
8
89
Vodafone
9
50
MediaTek
10
47
SecureRF
Semiconductor manufacturer MediaTek today announced their latest
processor platform [LinkIt] targeted at wearables and Internet of Things.
- Source: Mobile Geeks 06/03/2014
7

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Eric Rondolat Brad Smith Mark Hurd Rich Tehnrani Craig Federighi John Chen Charlie Bess Tony Prophet Dan Tentler Steve Jennis
The 10 Most Inﬂuential Internet of Things Executives
General
Counsel
Microsoft
CEO
TMC
VP
Apple
CEO
Blackberry
Founder
Aten Labs
In an interview with the Economic Times, BlackBerry CEO
John Chen said leveraging QNX, the OS it acquired in
2010, for M2M communications was a key priority for the
struggling handset maker going forward.
- Source: Light Reading 04/13/2014
Chief
Technologist
HP
President
Oracle
InfluenceScore
CEO
Philips
Lighting
SVP
PrismTech
“Nest is sticking its toe in home automation,
which opens them to all the problems home
automation companies deal with,” Dan Tentler,
founder of security company Aten Labs…With
the explosion of API connections, could Nest’s
platform be hackable?
- Source: Forbes 06/24/2014
“As we move to a world with high-powered analytics,
and deep, data-based understanding enabled by
the IoT, when the network is breached, a root cause
analysis needs to be performed and individuals held
accountable.”
- Source: The Next Big Thing 06/16/2014
"We are excited to be part of the next step in making home automation a
reality. HomeKit will allow us to further enhance the Philips Hue lighting
experience by making it simpler to securely pair devices throughout the
house and control them using Siri.“
- Source: CNBC 06/02/2014
VP
Marketing
Microsoft
The importance of online privacy will grow in the coming
years, Smith said, as more household devices connect to
the Internet . "By the end of this decade, there will be 50
billion devices in the Internet of things.“
- Source: Tech World 06/24/2014
8

9
The Industrial Internet
The integration of complex physical machinery with networks of sensors and software is a
growing trend in industrial manufacturing.
So much so, that GE has coined the term “industrial internet” to unite the fields of M2M
communication, manufacture, big data, and the IoT. GE has also led to way to establishing the
Industrial Internet Consortium to bring together firms interested in developing this type of
technology.
The space seems to be divided among tech firms like Google, Cisco, and Apple, and
traditional industrial automation firms like Omron, Datalogic, and Emerson Electric.
Blackberry is trying to get into the market by marketing its Project Ion software platform to
manufacturers.
There were far fewer influencers and scores tended to be lower for this industrial side of the
Internet of Things than for the commercial marketplace.
THE INTERNET OF THINGS FOR INDUSTRY AND MANUFACTURING

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
The 10 Most Inﬂuential Industrial IoT Companies
10
RANK
NIS
1
38
RTI
2
29
Google
3
24
Cisco
4
22
GE
5
22
Omron
6
17
DataLogic
7
15
Emerson Electric
8
11
Blackberry
9
10
Rockwell Automation
10
8
Apple
Cisco, AT&T, GE, IBM and Intel
announced the formation of the
Industrial Internet Consortium™, an
open membership group to support
better access to big data with
improved integration of the physical
and digital worlds.
- Source: Yahoo! Finance 05/14/2014
Omron , the industrial automation
specialist, announces a transparent-
object sensor specifically designed for
the food & beverage industry.
- Source: Process Industry Informer
06/02/2014
BlackBerry said [Project Ion] includes
building a secure public application platform
and tapping into strategic partnerships,
including the Industrial Internet Consortium.
- Source: ZeeNews.com 05/22/2014
GE announced that it would invest
$1 billion in the Industrial Internet.
RTI is pleased to give our
customers a head-start on building
robust Industrial Internet systems.
- Source: Market Wire 06/17/2014

11
The Top Sectors
Looking at the top twenty most influential large companies, a clear differentiation emerges
between firms operating in three separate sectors:
•  Home automation (connected home): Technology to make household appliances,
temperature controls, or electronics “smart” and connect them to the web so they can be
programmed to function remotely. Among influential smart home products, devices
focusing on home security, like smart locks and security systems have also carved out
their own niche.
•  Software platforms: Software that can collect data from and manage a multitude of
electronic devices on a single platform through the web.
•  Connectivity enabling devices: Hardware like routers, modems, semi-conductors, or
RFID trackers that enable M2M communications.
Home automation was by far the largest sector, accounting for 66% of the influence among
the top 20 influencers, although connectivity devices host the greatest number of companies.
THREE SECTORS EMERGE AMONG THE MAJOR PLAYERS:

Top 20 Inﬂuential Companies By Sectors
Home Automation
Software Platforms
Connectivity Devices Other
Apple : 757
Nest: 549
Google: 243
American Family: 27
Intel: 162
Microsoft: 129
Cisco: 100
CloudPlugs: 25
Wind River Systems: 23
Blackberry: 21

Securus: 28
Nokia: 23

Vodafone: 89
MediaTek: 50
SecureRF: 47
Skyworks Solutions: 45
Symmetry Electronics: 34
ZTE: 32
Macnica: 29
12

13
A DIVERSE RANGE OF PRODUCTS ARE NOW AVAILABLE
The Inﬂuential Products
While the major tech giants are just getting into the game, startups and other companies with
product focused campaigns already have a wide range of interesting products on the market.
The conversation in this space is promising in terms of innovation and filled with
announcements of new products, features, and partnerships.
Partnerships with large tech giants tended to drive up influence for IoT products.
•  Leading influencer, smart security camera manufacturer Dropcam, confirmed on June 21st
that it would be acquired by Nest, which is now owned by Google. Logitech, the company
behind the smart home Harmony Remote, rose to third most influential when they
announced that their updated remote would include controls for Nest thermostats and
alarms.
•  Apple HomeKit partners Honeywell (producer of the automated Lyric Thermostat) and
Philips (of Philips Hue lighting controls) were also influential in this space.

Inﬂuential New iOT Products!
Belkin announced an updated version of
its WeMo App for Android and iOS [with]
new features for the WeMo Light Switch.
- Source: iClarified 04/17/2014
Nest and Dropcam confirmed
the acquisition, but did not
specify the price tag.
- Source: Sharenet 06/21/2014
Honeywell has announced 'Lyric', a new
[smart] thermostat to compete with Nest.
- Source: iClarified 06/10/2014
Logitech announces an update to its
Harmony Ultimate Remote.
- Source: CNBC 06/24/2014
Philips announced Hue Tap [kinetic
energy] controller … tapping the
button generates all the energy to
carry out a command.
-Source: Techno Buffalo 03/29/2014
14
Dropcam
INFLUENCE SCORE: 183
Kwikset Kevo E-Lock
INFLUENCE SCORE: 20
Logitech Harmony Remote
INFLUENCE SCORE: 45
Philips Hue Smart Bulb
INFLUENCE SCORE: 19
Honeywell Lyric Thermostat
INFLUENCE SCORE: 158
Belkin WeMo Home Controller
INFLUENCE SCORE: 18
Kevo will start to work right away, as the included fob works
out of the box. Kwikset does, however, recommend that you
calibrate the fob and any smartphones in order to enable the
sensors built into the device.
- Source: iLounge 06/10/2014

15
Key Themes
Looking inside the most influential comments and quotes, we examined the top concepts
discussed by the most influential people and companies in the Internet of Things marketplace.
Many of the most frequently occurring themes centered around home automation.
•  The general theme of connected home was very popular, and sub-sectors of home
automation like home security, smart thermostats, and smart TVs also gained recognition in
their own right.
•  Home automation is one of the most fully developed sectors in the Internet of Things in
terms of the number of firms and products in the market, and it was also host to a number
of the largest influencers like Apple, Nest, and Google, so it makes sense that it was the
subject of the majority of conversations.
The popularity of themes like connected cars and wearable tech show a growing interest in
getting more and more things plugged in: like our clothing, our vehicles, and even entire cities.
WHAT INFLUENCERS ARE TALKING ABOUT

Top Themes in Internet of Things
16
Common Terms Found In Influential iOT Oppinions (font size reflects frequency)

17
A Competive Marketplace
Only two months ago, Intel was riding high following an announcement that they would be
reporting revenue from Internet of Things related business in their first quarter report, climbing
even higher when their first quarter results revealed revenue up 32%.
But the lead has been hard to sustain with competitors like Microsoft, Cisco, Apple, and
Google also announcing forays into the market. These companies have been jockeying for
position throughout the past 90 days,
Most recently, Apple has taken a wide lead with its HomeKit announcements, but judging by
the precedent set by previous top influencers, this lead is only temporary until the next big
player comes in with an announcement of their own.

NO CLEAR LEADER HAS EMERGED

0
100
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400
500
600
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800
900
3/31/2014 4/10/2014 4/20/2014 4/30/2014 5/10/2014 5/20/2014 5/30/2014
Apple Intel Cisco Microsoft Google
Inﬂuence Trends of Key Players (Part I)
Beginning with its first-
quarter report on April 15,
Intel said it will provide
revenues from its recent
Internet of Things Group.
- Source: Rueters UK
04/07/2014
Intel has high hopes for its chips powering
the so-called Internet of Things ... revenue,
[is] up 32 percent from a year ago.
- Source: Inside Bay Area 04/15/2014
[Microsoft] announced [the] "Windows on the
Internet of Things" [platform] at the Build 2014
conference, expecting to release by spring 2014.
- Source: PC World 04/02/2014
Cisco is allocating, $150M for
Internet-of-Things investments.
- Source: Silicontap 04/20/2014
Microsoft just announced its own
Insteon home automation app is
"coming soon."
-Source: Engadget 05/15/2014
Apple is on the verge of announcing a new
iOS-based platform that will integrate with
users' "smart home" systems, [tying]
together devices to turn "Internet of things"
into a mainstream market.
- Source: Apple Insider 05/26/2014
InfluenceScore
18

19
0
100
200
300
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600
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900
5/25/2014 6/4/2014 6/14/2014 6/24/2014
Apple Google Intel Cisco Microsoft
Continued From Previous…
Apple announced an upcoming home
automation platform that will allow
iPhone users to control their homes
with their phones called HomeKit.
- Source: Recode 06/02/2014
Apple, for example, has chosen to partner rather than to enter the home
automation market with a device, at least for now.
- Source CNET 06/23/2014
Late Friday, Nest — the home automation
company which Google acquired in
January — announced it was buying
home-monitoring camera developer
Dropcam for $555 million cash.
- Source: CMSWire.com 06/23/2014
Microsoft announced today that it is launching
a new startup accelerator in Redmond focused
on home automation and the Internet of Things.
- Source: GeekWire 06/17/2014
Key Players (Part II)

20
Bursting Inﬂuencers
Looking at the influence trend for several of the top influencers for the same period shows that
many of the most influential companies started the period with little to no influence at all before
major events or announcements propelled them to the top.
Microsoft and Zebra Technologies, major influence drivers in the overall market, were both
barely visible at the start of the period.
•  Microsoft received a boost from their April 2nd announcement of a new Internet of Things
software.
•  Zebra got on the map after announcing on April 15th, that they would be purchasing of
Motorola’s Enterprise business, which includes Motorola’s mobile computing business and
identity data capture technology
Announcements of new acquisitions, financing, products, and partnerships were also
instrumental in putting Ayala, BlackBerry, Skyworks, and MediaTek on the map.

IN THIS MARKET ONE ANNOUNCEMENT CAN HAVE BIG IMPACT

0
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300
3/31/2014 4/10/2014 4/20/2014 4/30/2014 5/10/2014 5/20/2014 5/30/2014 6/9/2014 6/19/2014
Bursting Inﬂuencers in Internet of Things
Microsoft announced a new
Operating System called
“Windows for Internet of Things”.
- Source: Bitbag 04/02/2014
InfluenceScore
Zebra said it is spending $3.5 billion
for Motorola Solutions' enterprise
unit to ensure a future at the
forefront of the Internet of Things.
- Source: Light Reading 04/15/2014
Ayla Networks announced that
it closed a $14.5 million Series
B financing round with
investments from Cisco and
SAIF Partners .
[Blackberry] showed off software for
a cloud-based service on which
enterprises will be able to create IoT
applications.
- Source: CIO Magazine 05/14/2014
"Skyworks is capitalizing on the
Internet of Things … to substantially
outpace the broader semiconductor
market," said [CEO] David J. Aldrich.
- Source: Nasdaq 06/03/2014
MediaTek announced its LinkIt
platform for wearables and IoT.
– Source: Fistpost.com 06/06/2014
21

The Appinions Methodology for Calculating Influence
Influence is the capacity to have an effect on the behavior of someone else. That’s a powerful capability, particularly in a
world where media is ubiquitous and nearly everyone has the capacity to repeat or amplify an idea.
Appinions measures influence as it is demonstrated in public news, articles, discussions, and social media. We apply
patented natural language processing algorithms to first extract opinions that have been publicly shared, then determine
who held that opinion, and finally to calculate an influence score based on the reaction each opinion elicits.  
 
WHAT IS AN INFLUENCER?
An influencer is a person, brand or company that expresses contextually relevant opinions on a specific topic, which elicit
meaningful reactions from others. The kinds of reactions we measure include quotes, references, comments, and
retweets. Someone can share opinions frequently, and have those opinions reach large audiences, and yet not be
considered influential if their opinions on a specific topic fail to generate meaningful reactions. We measure only the
ability to garner meaningful reactions.
HOW ARE INFLUENCE SCORES CALCULATED?
Appinions reviews full-text from online, offline, and social sources, and calculates individual influence scores for each
person or company who shared an opinion on a specific topic which generated a meaningful reaction. Scores are
calculated independently for each topic, based on a specific topic definition that includes keywords, key phrases, and
negative keywords. It’s also important to note that all scores exist on a single scale, so you can compare the relative
value of any two scores, even on different topics or from different time frames.
The score considers: 1) Which people or entities reacted to an opinion, weighted by their respective influence on that
topic; 2) What is the credibility of the outlet where the reaction was published or consumed; and 3) What volume of
reactions were generated based on the opinions attributed to that influencer over the past 60 days.
Reviewing all opinions from everyone who comments on a given topic, identifying all of the reactions, and completing this
calculation, results in a ranked list of influencers for any given topic or theme. In this report we reviewed over 40,000
opinions (within over 100 million documents) between March 31, 2014 and June 27, 2014.

22

About Appinions
Appinions is an influence marketing platform. Our software enables B2B marketers to identify, manage, and analyze the
impact of influence in their business. Appinions reveals the people, topics, content, and sources that are having a
measurable impact on any marketplace. Fortune 1000 clients use Appinions to strategically drive their content marketing,
executive influence, product launch, and more.
CUSTOMERS
Xerox, Dell, Nissan, Aflac, and American Airlines are among the companies that rely on Appinions to keep them aware
and engaged. Appinions also publishes reports with partners such as Forbes, USA Today, and The Economist.
TECHNOLOGY
The Appinions platform is built on more than a decade of research conducted at Cornell University. Its patented
technology extracts and aggregates opinions from more than three million articles every day including offline media,
newspapers, magazines, blogs, forums, and social networks, and determines influence rankings based on reactions that
have been generated.  

To learn more, or schedule a personal conversation: 
visit http://www.appinions.com 
or write us at sales@appinions.com

For press or other inquiries, contact info@appinions.com
23

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