2065438+In September 2004, when Apple released the iPad Air 2, it brought the concept of eSIM card (also known as "Apple SIM") to the actual product for the first time.
The eSIM card actually embeds the traditional SIM card directly into the device chip, instead of being added to the device as an independent detachable component. In addition, compared with the physical SIM card, the eSIM card can reduce the space by up to 90%, because it has been embedded in the device during the manufacturing process, and users can remotely activate the connection. This will allow users to choose carrier packages more flexibly, or change carriers at any time without unlocking devices or buying new devices.
However, eSIM card also brings many challenges to operators: First, the original procurement system and supply mode of SIM card will change. Secondly, there will be some corresponding changes in the management of SIM card full number resources. Third, the basic value-added services attached to the SIM card will be lost. Fourth, the competition among operators is more intense. It may deploy many remote configuration management systems, which will increase the cost of its operation and maintenance services to some extent.
Obviously, eSIM card will bring better user experience and more possibilities to terminal manufacturers, but it will weaken the control of operators on users, so eSIM has not been popularized.
Three years later, Apple's Apple SIM card has encountered many setbacks, only a few operators support it, and most consumers in China have never heard of it. China users are most exposed to SoftSIM services similar to Meizu, and can only buy traffic overseas.
However, with the advent of the Internet of Things era and the popularity of wearable devices, the eSIM card that has suffered setbacks in smart phone terminals is welcoming spring.
Application of eSIM card in vehicle networking
In fact, the proposal of eSIM service is related to the Internet of Vehicles. Wang Yingzhou, the sales director of customer solutions of G&D (China) Information Technology Co., Ltd., told (WeChat official account:) that eSIM business was first developed and commercialized on a large scale in the field of car networking, and its technology was also tested in the field of car networking, but why is it car networking?
First of all, the communication requirements of the Internet of Vehicles are actually security requirements, and embedded cards are more secure. When the car has an accident and the owner can't operate, the car mainly communicates with the background, so eSIM plays a very key role. Obviously, the traditional plug-in card can't guarantee the normal use of this service after the collision, so an embedded card (this kind of card integrated with the car machine) is very important.
Secondly, the cross-border import and export of vehicles need the service of code number management. From the point of view of a car factory, the cost of a car is very high, like a patch eSIM, and its cost is irrelevant. However, when the car is to be exported to all parts of the world, if it is supposed to be a SIM card with a dead number, then he needs to negotiate with the operators in various countries in advance to produce a card with a dead number, and then transport it to the production base for export to all parts of the world after production, so this piece is very complicated, so from the perspective of the car factory, it is necessary for him to reduce the complexity of material management and technology. Moreover, if this card is written with a dead number, it will not be sold for a certain period of time after export, and another market needs the same model. It is necessary to open those cars, unload the cards inside and re-press the local cards. The cost of the whole process is very high, which may cost several hundred euros.
These factors lead many car dealers to use the M2M service of eSIM first, that is, they use patch cards and carry out code number management services.
Application of eSIM card in wearable devices
With the popularity of wearable devices, communication and networking are becoming the standard functions of these intelligent hardware. Obviously, compared with cars and smart phones, the internal space of wearable devices is much more precious, especially if there is no breakthrough in battery technology, so eSIM is obviously a better choice.
It is understood that in March last year, GSMA announced the long-awaited embedded SIM card remote configuration (eSIM) specification. This is an important milestone because it represents the first GSMA standardized version of the reprogrammable eSIM standard, which can be used in consumer electronic devices such as smart watches, fitness equipment and tablets.
At present, Samsung's Gear S2, S3 and Huawei's HUAWEI Watch 2 all have eSIM card versions, but at present, domestic operators do not support them, which is why domestic users have been.
Prospect of eSIM card in the field of internet of things
Although mobile phone users want to experience eSIM in the foreseeable future, domestic operators are also actively using eSIM cards to deploy their own Internet of Things platforms. Because for operators, the Internet of Things is sensitive to cost and requires higher security and stability, it is difficult for traditional SIM to meet the requirements of Internet of Things devices, while the eSIM card is much more convenient.
In the production process, a white card containing the identities of different operators is directly embedded in the IOT equipment. Through a single management platform, the operator's security certification is completed in a secure long-distance over-the-air (OTA) manner. Users don't need to insert a SIM card, they can directly choose the carrier network where the equipment is located, and use local tariffs to reduce international roaming charges.
According to relevant persons of China Mobile, China Mobile takes 654.38+00 million users as the sample, and each eSIM can save about 4 yuan's cost, which will undoubtedly accelerate the development of the Internet of Things.
However, for the eSIM Internet of Things, apart from the eSIM card, the SM platform (subscription manager) is the focus of operation and the key to managing eSIM and changing operators. It is reported that China Mobile and China Telecom have completed the construction of the eSIM card platform for the Internet of Things.
For the Internet of Things private network, because the eSIM card can be managed by remote programming, operators can establish a private network card writing platform for their own Internet of Things private network, and provide enterprise-oriented equipment management solutions for all the eSIM cards in the Internet of Things, even across operators.
Facing the Internet of Things market, eSIM cards have broad market prospects in the future, including car networking, wearable devices, smart homes, smart homes, remote intelligent meter reading, wireless mobile POS machines, positioning and tracking, and so on. It is predicted that by 2020, there will be 654.38+0.25 billion eSIM connections in the world, with a total value of about 654.38+0.74 billion dollars.
At present, many companies at home and abroad have laid out eSIM cards. At the second eSIM Technology and Innovation Summit just past, I had the honor to interview Guo Tong, a domestic startup company, and G&D abroad.
According to Wang Yingzhou, the world's first SIM card was made by G&D, which also provided the world's first commercial platform for eSIM. In the future, we will always be optimistic about the application of eSIM card in the field of Internet of Things.
Of course, in addition to large companies, startups have also entered this market, and Guo Tong Technology, located in Shanghai, has seen the future opportunities of eSIM cards. At the just-concluded MWC20 17, China telecom, together with Guo Tong and longshang technology, exhibited a narrow-band internet of things module, which adopted SIM2free technology of Guo Tong technology. In addition, Guo Tong announced that it has also cooperated with China Unicom and NXP to establish an eSIM solution.
At present, Guo Tong's main products include ezM2M equipment management platform, SIM2free virtual SIM technology and ezUICC connection management platform, which mainly connect terminal manufacturers and operators and provide turnkey solutions.
According to the history of technology CEO, although the market of eSIM card is not big enough at present, operators still have resistance to the application of eSIM card in mobile phones, but they are waiting for opportunities.
According to foreign media reports, recently, ARM acquired the Internet of Things security company Simulity Labs for 1 1.7 million. Simulity Labs is committed to the research in the field of SIM/eSIM technology, and provides corresponding embedded systems and services, so that IOT devices can access the network safely.
Sun Zhengyi, the founder of Softbank, said after the acquisition of ARM that the number of IOT devices will exceed 1 trillion in 20 years. These devices all need communication interconnection, and the Internet of Things connection based on the cellular network of operators only accounts for 5% to 8% at present.
In the future, eSIM cards with various advantages are obviously promising.