Annual smart label device shipments to reach over 30 million units in 2029

Smart labels is a new category of tracking devices that is designed to be attached to packages, roll cages, pallets, crates and other small items in logistics. The product category can be seen as a combination of traditional shipping labels and GPS tracking devices. Adding technology to shipping labels is not new. Other technologies such as RFID and Bluetooth have been used for several years. Small-sized GPS trackers using wide area networks used for cargo tracking have also been used for more than a decade. However, in the past few years, some companies have developed solutions that combine the technologies of GPS tracking devices with the small footprint of a shipping label. The result is smart labels that enable item-level tracking worldwide in near real-time. The definition of a smart label in this report is a shipping label that can easily be attached to a package and incorporates some type of Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) technology, e.g. cellular, satellite, Sigfox or LoRaWAN.

Several companies are developing smart label solutions and a handful of companies have already commercially launched products. The leading solution providers reached shipments of tens of thousands of units during 2024. In a few years’ time, several solution providers are estimated to reach annual shipments exceeding a million units. Key players providing smart label solutions based on cellular technology include Israel-based Sensos, UK-based Reelables, Germany-based BOX ID and Giesecke+Devrient, Netherlands-based SODAQ and US-based Moeco, AT&T, Trackonomy Systems, Tag-N-Trac, Roambee and Qualcomm. Companies providing LoRaWAN smart labels include US-based OnAsset Intelligence, Switzerland-based Truvami, China-based RAKwireless and UK-based Trackpac. Japan-based Kyocera and France-based Linxens provide smart labels based on Sigfox technology.  

Smart labels represent a major opportunity for technology developers, solution providers, telecom operators and logistics service companies. Hundreds of billions of parcels and other small items in logistics are shipped annually. While the vast majority of these items will not be economically viable to track using smart labels, the potential market for smart labels is already in the millions of units. Berg Insight estimates that the number of shipments of smart labels based on cellular, Sigfox or LoRaWAN technology used in logistics worldwide reached 400,000 units in 2024. Since most smart labels are disposable and include a battery that only lasts for a few weeks, the number of devices that are connected and actively transferring data at a particular point in time (i.e. installed base) is significantly lower than the number of shipped labels per year. The number of days or weeks a smart label is in active use also varies depending on the use case, transport distance and other factors. There were an estimated 30,000 simultaneously active smart label units at the end of 2024.

The market is forecasted to grow fast during the next five years as the technology improves and more customers figure out how they can utilise smart labels to streamline their logistics processes. By 2029, annual shipments of smart labels are projected to reach 31.8 million units. This represents a CAGR of 140 percent. The number of simultaneously active smart labels is estimated to reach 2.7 million units by the end of 2029. The market value is estimated to € 11.2 million in 2024. This includes revenues generated from the sales of hardware, software and services by smart label solution providers. The market value is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 75 percent to reach € 181.6 million in 2029.