The future of the SIM: potential market and technology implications for the mobile ecosystem

Remote provisioning technology and embedded form factors represent a major development in the history of the SIM. This report looks at the implications from a market perspective. For consumers, SIM developments are likely to be unambiguously positive; for businesses, the implications are more nuanced, bringing both opportunities and challenges.

We also examine the technology developments driving possible alternative SIM solutions and provide a qualitative assessment of emerging use cases for the SIM.

To inform the report, we conducted primary research to gather strategic insights and views on the future of the SIM from companies across the broader mobile ecosystem – telecoms operators and non-operators, including SIM vendors, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and companies from a number of industries.