Home Blog Soracom-KDDI’s Recognition as a Leader in th...

Soracom-KDDI’s Recognition as a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™

TL;DR

Soracom-KDDI has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide.
The report recognizes Soracom’s Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute, which in our opinion are the two axes that define the Leaders quadrant
2026 marks Soracom’s first placement in the Leaders quadrant, having been recognized as a Niche Player in 2021 and 2022 and a Visionary in 2023.

A New High-Water Mark for Soracom

This has been a meaningful moment for us. Soracom-KDDI has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide. The evaluation was based on specific criteria that analyzed the company’s overall Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute, the two dimensions on which the Magic Quadrant positions every vendor it recognizes .

We believe that recognition as a Leader aligns well with Soracom’s commitment to setting the standard for technical capability among IoT connectivity providers. It is also a moment to look back. Soracom first was recognized in the Magic Quadrant as a Niche Player in 2021, then as a Visionary in 2023, and this year Soracom has been recognized as a Leader.

To us the recognition is meaningful in its own right, and it is worth considering in the context of how managed IoT connectivity has evolved as a category. It has been a long journey , and we are grateful for the customers, partners, and team members who walked it with us.

How the State of IoT Connectivity Has Shifted

A few years ago, the conversation around IoT connectivity was largely about coverage and SIM logistics. Enterprises evaluating providers asked which networks they could reach, which countries they could deploy in, and how to manage SIMs across a fleet. The platform layer
above connectivity was thin. Services tended to be carrier-centric, hardware-defined, and operationally heavy.

Today, the conversation has shifted. Enterprises ask whether a connectivity platform integrates cleanly with their cloud architecture, whether it supports the AI services they want to layer on top of device data, whether eSIM orchestration can replace physical SIM swaps, and whether satellite connectivity is available when cellular isn’t. The platform layer has thickened substantially. The questions buyers ask today are platform questions, not connectivity questions.

Soracom built the first cloud-native IoT connectivity platform on AWS to anticipate exactly this shift. Recognition as a Leader, in our opinion reflects both how the category has evolved and where we have invested to meet it.

What Being a Leader Means To Us in the Magic Quadrant

Leaders invest in the future of IoT that includes a continuum of value from IoT edge devices to IoT platforms and related analytics and AI capabilities. Leaders perform skillfully and often exceed expectations. They have a clear vision of the market’s direction and develop competencies to maintain their leadership.

It is worth saying clearly that the Magic Quadrant help you “Get quickly educated about a market’s competing technology providers and their ability to deliver on what end users require today and in the future” The full Gartner disclaimer appears at the bottom of this post, and we encourage readers to consider it alongside the recognition itself.

For enterprise IoT buyers, we believe the Leaders quadrant represents is an external, methodology-driven reference point. It is one input among many, and a useful one when choosing a connectivity partner.

Our Recognitions: 2021 to 2026

Looking back, Soracom’s path on the Magic Quadrant tells a story of steady upward momentum, moving from the bottom-left of the chart toward the upper-right.

Year	Quadrant Position
2021	A Niche Player
2022	A Niche Player
2023	A Visionary
2026	A Leader

2021 and 2022: A Niche Player

Our first recognition in the Magic Quadrant was in 2021, when Soracom was recognized as a Niche Player. By that point we believe Soracom had already been in the market for years. Air and Beam were known commodities, and the cloud-native, API-first model that still defines Soracom today was firmly in place. In fact, Soracom had built the first cloud-native IoT connectivity platform on AWS, a bet on where the category was heading and how we feel the market had only just begun to validate.

In those early years, our customer base skewed toward startups, individual builders, and smaller-scale IoT operators. They chose Soracom because the platform’s pay-as-you-go model and developer-first design fit the way they wanted to work, and a lot of what we built next, we learned by building it alongside them. We were recognized as a Niche Player in 2022, and in our opinion continuing to invest in the breadth of services the platform had been growing since day one.

2023: A Visionary

In 2023, Soracom was recognized as a Visionary. In our opinion, as cloud-native, API-first IoT connectivity matured into a defined category, the differentiated approach Soracom had taken from day one grew increasingly visible to the analyst community.

2026: A Leader

This year, Soracom-KDDI is named a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide. The placement in the right quadrant is based on Completeness of Vision with Ability to Execute at the scale today’s enterprise IoT deployments demand.

The platform is now used by a customer base anchored in enterprises and a maturing ecosystem of partners, including system integrators, solution providers, hardware partners, and platform partners, all of them building production IoT solutions on top of Soracom every day.

What’s We Feel is Behind the Placement: The Platform Gartner Evaluated

Soracom’s cloud-native IoT platform provides cellular and satellite connectivity, cloud integration, and AI services across 200+ countries and territories. The platform connects devices to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud and spans SIM-level connectivity to application-layer intelligence, with AI capabilities that include Soracom Flux for AI-driven workflow automation and Soracom Query for natural-language IoT analytics.

A cloud-native, software-defined core terminates device connections directly within cloud infrastructure, supports advanced multi-IMSI orchestration, and aligns with the SGP.32 eSIM standard for dynamic, remote profile management. The same architecture enables highly flexible pay-as-you-go pricing.

In plain terms, the platform brings together a set of capabilities that customers rarely find under one roof:

Connectivity at Planetary Scale. Cellular and satellite coverage across 200+ countries and territories, managed from a single platform.
Cloud Integration Without Glue Code. First-class paths into AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, so device data lands where the rest of your stack already lives.
Intelligence at the Application Layer. Soracom Flux for AI-driven workflow automation and Soracom Query for natural-language IoT analytics, available alongside the SIM and the device rather than as a separate product to integrate.
Commercial and Connectivity Models Built for IoT. Pay-as-you-go pricing, multi-IMSI orchestration, and a strategic focus on the SGP.32 eSIM standard for dynamic, remote profile management of devices in the field.

The Joint Capability

In our opinion the 2026 evaluation reflects the combined strengths of Soracom and our partners at KDDI. KDDI brings global connectivity reach across 86 countries and territories, including connected vehicle deployments for major Japanese automakers and large-scale industrial IoT operations. Through its Global Communication Platform, KDDI has supported mission-critical IoT deployments for over 25 years. Together, the joint capability combines Soracom’s platform innovation and AI services with KDDI’s connectivity scale and operational depth.

What’s Next

We see IoT connectivity, cloud, and AI converging into a single problem space, and the next chapter of the Soracom platform is being built around that convergence. More and more, customers tell us they want the same product surface that manages their connectivity to also help them make sense of their data, respond to it automatically, and build agentic workflows on top.

What remains ahead is straightforward: continued investment in the architecture and services that customers are asking for. SGP.32 eSIM orchestration is moving from pre-orders into broader deployment. AI services through Soracom Flux and Soracom Query are expanding. Satellite connectivity is becoming an integrated layer rather than a separate workstream.

We will share the fuller picture, including new capabilities, new partnerships, and announcements we have been working toward, at Soracom Discovery on July 7. We will have more to say then, and we hope to see you there.

The work continues.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Is Soracom-KDDI Positioned in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™?

Soracom-KDDI is positioned in the Leaders quadrant of the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide.

Is This the First Time Soracom Has Been Named a Leader?

Yes. 2026 is the first year Soracom appears in the Leaders quadrant.

Why Is the 2026 Listing Attributed to “Soracom-KDDI”?

The 2026 evaluation was based on Soracom’s partnership with KDDI, hence why the recognition is attributed to Soracom-KDDI.

Does the Joint Submission Change How I Buy or Use Soracom?

No. Soracom customers continue to use the same platform, APIs, console, contracts, and support model.

What Does Soracom’s Platform Actually Do?

Soracom’s cloud-native IoT platform provides cellular and satellite connectivity, cloud integration, and AI services across 200+ countries and territories, connecting devices to AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud and spanning SIM-level connectivity to application-layer intelligence.

What Is the Gartner Magic Quadrant?

It is a research methodology Gartner uses to position vendors in a market across two axes, Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision, placing each into one of four quadrants: Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries, or Niche Players.

Read the Full Report

The complete 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide is available for download from Soracom.

soracom.io/gartner-mq-iot-connectivity-2026

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed IoT Connectivity Services, Worldwide, By Pablo Arriandiaga, Kameron Chao, Jon Dressel, 4 May 2026.

This 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Managed IoT Connectivity Worldwide graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from Soracom.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally. MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Soracom's Picks

Advices and interviews, to inform and inspire.