Sam McLaughlin
All work

Location technologies and LPWAN research

My first analyst role. I started on low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN) for IoT, then became lead author for ABI Research's location technologies research: indoor location, Bluetooth beacons, GNSS and asset tracking.

LPWAN and IoT connectivity (2016)

LPWAN technologies such as Sigfox, LoRa, NB-IoT and LTE-M were competing to connect billions of low-power IoT devices. I analysed the technologies, their ecosystems and the markets they suited.

  • LPWAN Market and Enabling Technologies (Q4 2016): a 50-page report comparing licensed and unlicensed LPWAN technologies, chipset shipment forecasts by technology and vertical market, chipset suppliers, mobile operator strategies and vertical case studies.
  • Worked on Market Opportunities for Low Power and Cellular Wireless ICs for the IoT, comparing nine competing technologies across more than 20 use cases.
  • Press commentary on LPWAN in App Developer Magazine (December 2016) and SDxCentral (July 2017).

Location technologies (2016–2018)

As lead author for the location technologies research service, I covered how people and things are located, indoors and out, and the business models around it. Outputs included:

  • Technology analysis reports: cellular and LPWAN location; next-generation asset tracking and real-time location systems (RTLS); indoor location platforms and business models; indoor location technologies and use cases.
  • Market data and forecasts: indoor positioning and RTLS infrastructure and revenues; GPS and GNSS; location technologies, devices and services; location-enabled services; outdoor and wide-area location.
  • Competitive assessment of GNSS chip vendors, a supply chain and ecosystem tracker, and a Hot Tech Innovators report on start-ups.
  • An industry survey of technology adoption and attitudes to location technologies among US companies.
  • An Executive Foresight on cellular location as a service for mobile operators, and insights on market news.

The full list is on the Publications page.

Commissioned white paper

Lindström Group: a reinvented workflow optimisation solution (February 2018). A case study of a real IoT deployment: sensors in washroom towel dispensers alert cleaning staff when a refill is needed, using Bluetooth mesh networking and cellular backhaul. It covers the business case, project timeline, technology choices, costs and data monetisation. Distributed by the technology vendor. Read the white paper (PDF)

Webinar and press

  • Co-presented the webinar Location Platforms: Value Chain Analysis, Technology Innovation and Business Transformation (April 2018) with ABI Research's Vice President of Strategic Technologies.
  • Quoted in announcements by Broadcom, the Wi-Fi Alliance, Wiliot and Wirepas, in ABI Research press releases, and in trade press. See Press.

What it shows

  • Covering a technical market end to end: technologies, vendors, forecasts and business models.
  • Owning a research area within two years of starting as an analyst.
  • Communicating to clients and the market through reports, webinars and the press.