Manufacturers of smart meters shipped 5 million units in the first quarter of the year, the second highest figure recorded by Framingham-based research firm IDC Energy Insights.
The shipments were a 22.7 percent increase over last year’s first-quarter shipments and are just shy of the 2010 second-quarter record of 5.1 million smart meters shipped.
IDC predicts that the market could grow to 71 million units shipped annually by 2015, fueled mostly by adoption in developing countries.
“Despite regional differences in the communication technology landscape, one thing is the same – momentum is building,” IDC wrote in a report issued today on the smart metering industry.
In America and Europe, smart metering is becoming the “standard,” IDC said.
National Grid has proposed to launch a smart grid pilot program in Worcester County, which would use smart meters.
