6.4 bn connected things to be in use in 2016: Gartner

Nearly 6.4 billion connected things will be in use globally in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 20.8 billion by 2020, according to a new forecast by market research firm Gartner.

In 2016, 5.5 million new things will get connected every day, the firm said.

"Internet of Things (IoT) services are the real driver of value in IoT, and increasing attention is being focused on new services by end-user organisations and vendors," said Jim Tully, vice president of Gartner.

"Aside from connected cars, consumer uses will continue to account for the greatest number of connected things, while enterprise will account for the largest spending," Tully added.

Gartner estimates that 4 billion connected things will be in use in the consumer sector in 2016, and will reach 13.5 billion in 2020.

In addition, the firm said that forecasts indicate that IoT will support total services spending of $235 billion in 2016, up 22 percent from 2015.

"Services are dominated by the professional category (in which businesses contract with external providers in order to design, install and operate IoT systems), however connectivity services (through communications service providers) and consumer services will grow at a faster pace," it said.