Edge Computing Market Forecasts and Trends Through 2028

Future edge computing capital spending is expected to exceed $700 billion over the next ten years, covering the construction of edge IT infrastructure such as access‑network equipment, aggregation points, and user‑proximate devices.

Analysts classify edge computing in various ways: Gartner distinguishes Enterprise Edge, Shallow Edge, and Deep Edge, while Tolaga Research separates Edge Devices from Edge Infrastructure.

Edge computing is described as the third wave of the Internet, built on existing regional and organizational foundations, with significant commercial opportunities emerging despite uncertainties.

Geographically, the Asia‑Pacific region currently hosts the largest share of edge devices and data‑center facilities, especially in Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China. By 2028, the region’s edge IT equipment and data‑center power footprint is projected to reach 25,409 MW, representing 36.7% of global edge computing consumption.

North America: 14,508 MW (21.0% of global consumption)

Europe: 20,403 MW (29.6%)

Other regions (Latin America, Middle East, Africa) together account for roughly 12.6%.

Overall, global edge IT equipment and data‑center facilities are expected to consume 1.02 million MW by 2028, with 68% deployed at the infrastructure (shallow) edge and 32% at the device (deep) edge.

After 2024, as edge system architectures mature, a shift from user‑specific to platform‑centric designs will accelerate demand for edge infrastructure.

Capital expenditure for edge IT equipment and data‑centers is forecast to reach $146 billion annually by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35%. Infrastructure spending is projected to grow at a 42% CAGR, while device‑side spending grows at 25%.

The analysis predicts demand across eleven markets and industries, with 4G/5G mobile consumers and smart‑home residential users leading the edge computing use cases. Telecommunications network operators (CNO), enterprise IT, and automotive verticals also show strong demand, with projected edge IT power needs of 16,938 MW for mobile and 10,843 MW for residential users by 2028.

For CNOs and enterprise IT, power demand is expected to rise to 7,117 MW and 5,800 MW respectively, driven by the maturation of platform‑centric products and expanding edge application scopes.

Enterprise IT infrastructure capital spending is projected to reach $8.7 billion by 2028, and it is estimated that 9.3% of enterprise cloud workloads will be deployed at the infrastructure edge.

Retail sector forecasts indicate that 20.3% of the world’s top‑100 retailers will implement edge‑enabled digital services, with retail edge infrastructure capital spending projected at $6.5 billion.

Open‑source initiatives such as the LF Edge Foundation and the Edge Computing Landscape are consolidating resources for the ecosystem.

Market research forecasts vary: Markets and Markets predicts the edge computing market will reach $6.72 billion by 2022 (CAGR 35.4% from 2017), driven by IoT, 5G, intelligent applications, and diversified cloud workloads. GrandView Research estimates a $3.24 billion market size by 2025, with SMEs showing the highest CAGR (46.5%). 451 Research projects a $18.2 billion fog‑computing market by 2022 (CAGR 104.9% from 2018‑2022) and identifies utilities, transportation, healthcare, industrial, and agriculture as primary verticals.

Hardware is expected to capture 42.1% of the 2022 edge market, with edge applications/platforms and edge services accounting for 21.5% and 20.4% respectively.

Overall, the convergence of rapidly increasing IoT device counts and the rollout of high‑bandwidth, low‑latency 5G networks signals a burgeoning edge computing storm.