From smart homes to autonomous cars, connected living is no longer a scene from a sci-fi movie but very true reality.
Thanks to ubiquitous connectivity, technology has become an increasing part of our everyday lives.
A simple visit to a technology event like CES (Consumer Electronics Show) shows the expanse of this universe of connected gadgets and wearables.
Technology can augment and enhance our way of living, whether through artificial intelligence built into our personal digital assistants or through smartwatches or fitness trackers that help monitor our well-being; or through the use of drones for personal entertainment to new logistical solutions.
The 6 challenges for the connected devices industry
- #1. Miniaturization: Consumer devices come in all shapes and sizes. Consumer OEMs are increasingly under pressure to use the real estate on their device more effectively to maximize their ROI.
- #2. Ruggedness: Consumer gadgets, especially wearable technology, are expected to be prone to rugged use, including shocks, dampness, and so on. This is almost contradictory to the need for miniaturization since ruggedness requires extra layers of protection.
- #3. Independent Connectivity: This is especially true for very mobile devices, such as wearables, tablets, and laptops. The nomad consumer of this digital age does not want to go through the perils of using a smartphone as a modem, through a USB or Bluetooth connectivity.
- #4. Security & Privacy: When left unsecure, connectivity may open doors to new attack vectors for cybercriminals, endangering consumer privacy.
- #5. Standardization: OEMs looking to deploy innovative solutions need to develop standards-compliant products to ensure they can be integrated into the larger IoT ecosystem of connected stakeholders.
- #6. Consumer Experience: The whole promise of IoT lies in providing an enhanced experience to end consumers. OEM have to deal with all the above challenges while still trying to ensure a smooth customer experience.
Thales’ Solutions for Consumer Electronics
According to a recent Gartner research, the eSIM is among the 9 technologies to watch for consumer & IoT devices.
eSIM and Remote SIM Provisioning empower consumer OEMs to develop new user experiences enabled by high-speed connectivity.
Thales Instant Connect
Thales Instant Connect allows OEMs and mobile operators to remotely and automatically provide initial mobile connectivity to genuinely offline eSIM-enabled devices at power on, wherever they are, while drastically simplifying OEMs' supply chain enhancing the user experience.
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Thales On-Demand Subscription Manager (OSM)
Thales offers the On-Demand Subscription Manager solution for OEMs that want to deliver more value to their consumers. Based on the latest GSMA specifications and built on Global Platform standards, OSM empowers OEM to provide seamless subscription management capabilities to its consumers. OSM enables OEM to develop its own partnership strategy with MNOs across the globe.
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eSIM
Based on GSMA’s specifications, the eSIM (or eUICC) is an evolution of the SIM card, tailored to meet miniaturization requirements, ruggedness, and security.
With the eSIM, OEMs have the peace of mind that their consumer devices will connect easily to cellular networks, no matter which part of the globe they are shipped.
Learn more about eSIM
Thales is a leader in digital security solutions, working actively with more than 450 mobile network operators worldwide. Our products are used by billions of consumers of digital services around the globe. We are uniquely placed in the connected ecosystem to enable consumer electronics manufacturers to connect with the MNO world and deliver a superior customer experience to end consumers.

Best practices for optimizing eSIM adoption
Learning lessons from successful Mobile Network Operators worldwide
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Thales eSIM Essentials
The remote eSIM provisioning solution packaged specifically for MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators)
Download the whitepaper
Thales eSIM Subscription Management
Subscription management plays an instrumental role in connecting objects, from industrial M2M applications like smart vehicles to consumer electronic devices like smart watches. Discover main business drivers to have a GSMA compliant subscription management solution.
On-Demand Subscription Manager (PDF - 721 kb]
Infographic on connecting tablets on-the-go
A panel of consumers assessed a connected tablet with flexible on-demand subscription management.
Download the infographic to discover the key findings.