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This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on consumer eSIM, highlighting how the market has changed in the last six months and its implications. The report considers four major developments: how eSIM-only and China’s eSIM launch are two factors that could accelerate consumer adoption of eSIM; how new customer propositions and offerings are taking travel eSIM to the next level; how eSIM is tapping into new categories of emerging consumer devices while driving new bundling approaches; and how eSIM is enabling a better blend of connectivity and entertainment experiences in sport.

With eSIM penetration in the consumer market set to double in 2026, and double again in 2027, this tracker provides data that operators, OEMs, eSIM vendors and other companies involved in the eSIM value chain, can use to formulate or adjust eSIM commercial strategies and offers. It covers three main areas: the commercialisation of eSIM consumer devices by OEM brand and type of device (smartphone, tablet and smartwatch); countries and MNOs that have launched commercial eSIM service for smartphones; and a consumer adoption forecast for eSIM in the smartphone market to 2030 (global and regional figures).

Leveraging data from the 2025 survey, conducted between June and August, this report provides relevant insights into how the consumer behaviour is changing across eight topic areas: 5G; devices; eSIM; generative AI; pay TV; gaming; the metaverse and extended reality; and sustainability.

This dashboard, based on GSMA Intelligence 2025 consumer survey, provides all the relevant data related to eSIM user behaviour in a consistent and structured way – a valuable asset for companies looking to formulate or adjust their consumer commercial strategies and plans.

eSIM technology can help solve a number of issues for low-power wide-area networks (LPWAN) as they scale into large-scale deployments. These issues include the higher cost and complexity of provisioning devices with physical SIM cards, device and lifecycle management, and higher opex due to required human intervention. The greater the adoption and spread of LPWAN, the greater the operational challenges for IoT service providers – but eSIM can address most of these challenges.

How will the industry evolve in 2026? This series of reports highlights the key trends to watch and the implications for ecosystem players. This report examines the IoT and enterprise markets.

At its recent ‘awe-dropping’ event, Apple unveiled its new line-up of smartphones, earphones and smartwatches, and showcased its innovation in device features.

Operator strategies continue to evolve in the digital era as the telecoms industry seeks to capture new growth opportunities in the consumer and enterprise markets. Assessing innovation and achievements is more important than ever before. GSMA Intelligence's operator case studies provide a concise and consistent way to shine a light on and analyse operators' strategies and business models, as well as how they are launching new services. This edition highlights BICS' eSIM Hub, which is designed to simplify global enterprise IoT deployments.

GSMA Intelligence's Chart of the Month is a visual way of telling an important story in the mobile and broader tech ecosystem. From the shape and size of markets to trends in consumer behaviour, we aim to provide food for thought through informative visuals designed to bring colour and clarity to complex issues facing the industry. This edition looks at progress among MNOs with the launch of eSIM connectivity for smartphones.

As the telecoms industry and wider digital ecosystem evolve at an unprecedented rate, regularly assessing major developments and their implications is more important than ever. This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on consumer eSIM, highlighting how the market has changed in the last six months and its implications.

With eSIM adoption set to accelerate from 2026, this tracker provides data that can be used to formulate or adjust eSIM commercial strategies and offers.

Earlier this month, Onomondo hosted the Made for IoT Summit 2025, bringing together a mix of IoT developers, device OEMs, module makers and adopters from across the IoT ecosystem, under the motto 'IoT connectivity should never be a bottleneck'. Key themes discussed included the latest GSMA eSIM SGP.32 and SGP.31 specifications, how the ecosystem is getting ready for commercial launches and the impact to connectivity service providers and device makers. Non-terrestrial networks IoT was a topic of focus as well, with the event’s participants taking note of progress being made and expressing high expectations for further advancements in the low Earth orbit space that will help drive greater adoption and lower costs. Finally, a new flagship private wireless project was unveiled in detail: Onomondo’s implementation with Maersk, Nokia and a suite of other partners that will bring private wireless to 450 ships at sea.

Digital transformation of vertical sectors is accelerating, with IoT being an important driver and enabler. GSMA Intelligence surveyed nearly 4,200 enterprises across 21 countries and 10 vertical sectors to gain relevant insights into their digital transformation across a range of technologies. This report analyses the key findings and implications for IoT and eSIM.

Over the last few years, there has been important progress on remote SIM provisioning (RSP) technology (eSIM and integrated eSIM) but adoption is still limited compared to its long-term potential. This report examines the outlook for RSP and provides a view on future developments that could help overcome some of the challenges that are currently hindering adoption of RSP.

GSMA Intelligence's Chart of the Month is a visual way of telling an important story in the mobile and broader tech ecosystem. From the shape and size of markets to trends in consumer behaviour, we aim to provide food for thought through informative visuals designed to bring colour and clarity to complex issues facing the industry. This edition highlights the growing use of eSIM for international roaming, based on our consumer survey findings.

This dashboard, based on our August 2024 consumer survey, provides all the relevant data related to eSIM user behaviour in a consistent and structured way.

Insight Highlights offer an opportunity to view some of the premium research and data offered by GSMA Intelligence to subscribers. This edition focuses on the eSIM market, highlighting consumer trends and developments in the enterprise segment.

GSMA Intelligence's Chart of the Month is a visual way of telling an important story in the mobile and broader tech ecosystem. In this edition, we examine eSIM adoption in the US and its impact on consumer churn.

This tracker provides relevant data related to eSIM in the consumer market across three main areas: commercialisation of eSIM consumer devices by OEM brand and type of device (smartphone, tablet and smartwatch); countries and operators that have launched commercial eSIM service for smartphones; and consumer adoption forecast for eSIM in the smartphone market through to 2030 (global and regional figures).