eSIM Trends Shaping Product Innovations

Jean-Louis Carrara, Head of Global Sales, shared his perspectives on the benefits of private cellular networks for enterprises and manufacturers, the crucial trends to watch in 2026 with Sam Barker, VP of Telecoms Market Research, at Juniper Research.

This excerpt was specifically for curated perspectives on what the future holds. You can read the full interview here. 

What innovations or emerging trends do you believe will impact the industry?

Three forces are set to reshape connected devices over the next 24 months: flexible IoT eSIM connectivity at scale, factory-time provisioning, and secure-by-design regulation, underpinned by a stronger sustainability lens.

1. Programmable connectivity becomes a business model

The GSMA’s IoT eSIM RSP standard (SGP.32) is best viewed as a toolset, not a single feature. It enables original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and enterprises to treat the eSIM as a secure digital identity that can be bound to the correct network at the right moment. When identity meets flexible network design, you unlock new models – regional SKUs collapse into one global design from the point of manufacture, and connectivity can be bundled, upgraded, or revenue-shared over the lifecycle – as long as connectivity is available out of the box.

2. In-factory profile provisioning (IFPP) moves eSIM decisions upstream

This is enabled by delaying the connectivity selection and injection in the device to the latest stage of the manufacturing. A pivotal shift is delivering operator profiles securely during production. In combination, the GSMA SGP.32 IoT eSIM RSP architecture and the new IFPP SGP.41/42 allow users to bind devices to private/public profiles at manufacture, then rotate, attest, or restore in the field – without truck rolls. We’ve already integrated secure profile delivery into the lines of notable Fortune 100 manufacturers, so we are constantly seeing innovation accelerate as these get put to rigorous test. The result: shorter lead times, simpler logistics, and fewer surprises in deployment.

3. Security regulation will reward early movers 

Upcoming regulations impose explicit, ongoing cybersecurity duties on device manufacturers, including secure-by-design development, vulnerability management, rapid incident reporting, clear documentation, conformity assessment, and multi-year update support. OEMs that adopt eSIM and IFPP aligned with SGP.32/SGP.41-42 can operationalize those obligations faster – because identity, attestation, and updateability are built into the connectivity substrate rather than bolted on later.

Bonus: Sustainability shifts from ‘new’ to ‘renew:’

So far, IoT eSIM headline wins have centred on new product designs. The next wave is making existing fleets more sustainable by migrating legacy SIM/eSIM deployments into an updateable eSIM world, securely decommissioning and reprovisioning devices for second-life use, and reducing dead inventory through profile portability rather than manual swaps. Designing for updateability turns connectivity into a circular asset; cutting waste while keeping devices secure and useful for longer.

What new product innovations are expected with these trends?

Kigen always looks ahead to CES, the most powerful tech event in the world for manufacturers and the unveiling of new category-defining products. We are pleased to see the honorees with whom we work closely, and look forward to supporting future ones. Some illustrative examples we can reveal are eSIM-first consumer products such as smart watches serving different profiles of users – for extreme trail hikers to safe parental control administering kids watches, emergency messaging devices, eSIMs prominent in the ever burgeoning Electric Vehicle market – cars, e-bikes, e-scooters or automated delivery bots, as well as smartphones and likley, there will be more exotic intelligent devices.

What emerging trends do you believe will impact eSIM-enabled product design?

1. eSIM is riding consumer momentum into industrial IoT 

It’s no surprise that the broader awareness of eSIM came from consumer devices including Apple going eSIM-only, Google pushing SIM slot + eSIM models, device makers embedding eSIM by default. That trickle into awareness is now cascading into IoT adopters. In recent weeks, we have Garmin’s Fenix 8 Pro (cellular + satellite), new connected wearables, asset trackers, and even kids’ watches — all ushering an era of eSIM-only and eSIM-first products. This consumer pressure accelerates industrial credibility. 

But the real opportunity for the OEM lies in two-fold control: 

1. Ownership of control 
   As device maker, you should be able to embed, switch, recover, or re-provision connectivity without depending wholly on a connectivity provider’s constraints.
2. Intelligent choice in connectivity 
   It’s not binary operator switching; it’s layered resilience. Outages, roaming issues, degradation, eSIM allows you to architect fallback, business rules, rescue logic. 

In your next design review, don’t ask “Should we add eSIM?” — ask “How do we architect intelligent eSIM layering into our connectivity stack?” 

2. The eSIM form factor unlocks new design possibilities 

One of my more enjoyable moments was walking prospects through the demo of Kigen’s MFF4 eSIM chipsets , ultra-compact, industrial-grade, and very real. Seeing engineers physically hold them and map them to small form devices (smartwatch, meter, helmet, beacon) is striking. Yes, we moved the “is it possible?” question into “how do we get embedding it into our product?” eSIM is no longer a bulky add-on; it can go anywhere.  

3. Faster paths to deployment through eSIM and module ecosystems 

On the panel with Sequans and Nordic, we highlighted the industry’s move from removable SIMs to the IoT-centric SGP.32 eSIM standard. The SIM’s 30-year legacy of hardware-backed security remains a foundation, but the focus is now on flexible pathways — embedding connectivity at manufacture, during device assembly, or in the field. With over 50 modules tested, turnkey developer solutions from Nordic Semiconductor, and real deployments like Itron’s collaboration with Kigen and Sequans for In-Factory Profile Provisioning, the message was clear: the ecosystem is ready to simplify IoT deployment and scale with confidence 

4. Rethink your RSP / provisioning model: pre-load, in-factory, remote 

One of the hall conversations bubbled into a pattern: many product teams still assume eSIM provisioning must mimic legacy SM-DP+ mid-field models. That’s no longer optimal, particularly in IoT. With SGP.32, you can mix approaches: 

• Pre-loading (in standalone eSIM or in cellular module)
•  In Factory Profile Provisioning (IFPP) during final assembly at the ODM or OEM site
• Remote provisioning / updates via eIM (eSIM IoT remote Manager) 

This flexibility enables strategic benefits for example, shipping a single SKU and only enabling connectivity later, or delaying region-specific profile binding until after QA or distribution. Several major players (e.g. NuvoLinQ) are adopting Kigen’s eSIMs with this flexibility built in, hedging against connectivity disruptions or region reconfiguration.

5. Orchestration, profiles and eIM choice matter (not just eSIM) 

The last, and perhaps the deepest, lesson: the real differentiation and risk lie not just in embedding eSIM, but in how you orchestrate the connectivity profile operations. In practical terms, your eIM must support multiple profiles, business-rule logic, rescue fallback, autonomous steering not just a one-time switchover. 

Here Kigen’s eIM is a key enabler: a scalable IoT remote manager purpose-built for SGP.32 v1.2, hosted in Kigen’s SAS-accredited data center. For scale, the eIM architecture must manage large fleets, coordinate profile operations, handle secure logic, support indirect downloads, and automate cross-profile deployments.  

 If you’re choosing your eIM partner, do not settle for vendors just meeting the minimal spec, look for scale, security posture, orchestration features via pre-integrations to CMP such as Simetric and IOTM, private / public network hybrid support, and resilience to internet threats. 

If you’d like to deeply explore how to pick the right configuration for eSIM + eIM, I invite you to talk to a Kigen expert, as we are purpose-built for this. 

How will eSIM evolve in the era of AI?

The future of eSIM will involve navigating two evolving standards: One for consumer devices and another for IoT, with a significant overlap as the technologies converge. As devices integrate AI, the boundaries between these categories may blur, placing greater emphasis on energy efficiency, data and network transmission, and processing optimization.

The evolution to iSIM (integrated SIM) will address key challenges, such as improving efficiency and reducing BOM (Bill of Materials) costs. These considerations are critical for scaling innovation and meeting the demands of smarter, more connected ecosystems.

“GSMA certification and the advances in interoperability in Kigen’s ecosystem empower OEMs to innovate, scale, and deliver transformative IoT and AI experiences with assured eSIM security — no matter their starting point: the chip, module, or network level. We’re at a pivotal step toward fulfilling the promise of IoT eSIMs by enabling automation, freedom, and unparalleled scalability.”

As devices integrate AI, the boundaries between these categories may blur, placing greater emphasis on energy efficiency, data and network transmission, and processing optimization.