SOURCE RESEARCH
eSIM in the Consumer and IoT Markets
Market Data | 3Q 2025 | MD-ESM-114
Get The ReportThe global Embedded Subscriber Identity Module (eSIM) market can be split into two primary segments: consumer eSIM (mostly smartphones) and IoT/Machine-to-Machine (MFF M2M) eSIM (mostly automotive and energy management). According to ABI Research's latest eSIM market forecasts, total eSIM device shipments reached 490 million in 2024, representing a Year-over-Year (YoY) increase of 3% compared to 2023. In 2025, our analyst team forecasts more than 544 million eSIM device shipments, an 11% sales increase.
Key eSIM Market Trends
71% of these eSIM devices are in consumer markets, with over 324.6 million smartphone shipments constituting 66% of the 490.8 million total shipments. Penetration of eSIM in smartphones is growing, with a global rate of 28.9% in 2024 expected to grow to 57.7% by 2030 as more manufacturers drive eSIM integration through the range.
Penetration through product ranges is expected to grow with the adoption of eSIM in smartphones in China, beginning with the launch of eSIM support by Chinese Mobile Network Operator (MNO) China Unicom in early 2026. The considerable volume of the Chinese smartphone market will contribute to increased device penetration as Chinese smartphone Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) are expected to integrate eSIM in a higher proportion of the device range, driving into mid-and low-end devices.
Expected deployment of eSIM-only devices in new regions and from new manufacturers will further drive penetration, but in particular, they will drive consumer profile downloads, as many consumers outside the eSIM-first United States still prefer to use the removable SIM card, or have low awareness of eSIM, despite owning an enabled device. This makes travel eSIM a considerable driver for profile downloads, particularly through 2024 and 2025 before additional eSIM-only devices begin to deploy and consumer awareness grows for primary use. SGP.22 profile downloads are, therefore, expected to grow from 366.8 million profile downloads in 2024 to 1.18 billion profile downloads in 2030.
Automotive is the top IoT eSIM market segment. In IoT markets, which make up 29% of the total eSIM market in 2024, the dominant category remains automotive. Automotive applications resulted in 60 million shipments in 2024, making up 42% of the 142.7 million total devices shipped in IoT markets.
Delays in SGP.32 implementation have led to a downward adjustment in expectations for 2024/2025, with the resultant jump in IoT deployments expecting to be seen primarily in 2H 2026 and scaling through 2027.
Within the eSIM smartphone market, Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe are the biggest recipients. These three regions will account for over 80% of overall eSIM card shipments worldwide for the smartphone space. In 2028, eSIM smartphone shipments in the Asia-Pacific region will reach 792.3 million; in North America, it will be 586.5; and in Europe, the total shipments will be 474.2 million.
In terms of vendor breakdown, Apple will ship the most eSIM-supported smartphones in these three major markets, although Samsung will gain significant penetration in Asia and Europe. Meanwhile, Samsung is the primary manufacturer of eSIM smartphones in the more developing nations in Latin America and Middle East & Africa.
