As developers are considering a new IoT application, thought needs to be given to the cellular hardware design as the choices available will have varying degrees of cost, time and integration efforts. At the top of the stack is a standalone, certified module. With these kinds of units, developers can get an application running more quickly as the entire unit (modem, antenna) has already gone through the various certifications with governing bodies like the FCC (Federal Communications Commission in the US) or safety bodies like the UL (the Underwrites Laboratories in the US) or other similar international agencies. With these standalone products, time to market is much faster with the trade off being that the form factor and size will be generalizable across multiple solutions versus specialized for a defined use case. With the high level of pre-built integration and certifications with these units another tradeoff is cost per unit. Moving down the stack, the form factors become smaller, but there is more work required by the developer to integrate the devices. At the bottom of the stack is a customized chipset. When a specialized application is required and there are resources available to work through the very long and expensive process for certification, this can be a viable solution. Ultimately, developers should consider the total volume of units for the final product when they are choosing their cellular radios – for applications where there will be hundreds of units deployed, the decision to stay with a stand-alone unit can be a good one. Where the projection is for unit shipments in the low thousands, moving to an embedded modem can be a good decision, once the prototypes have been validated. Where the projection is for unit shipments in the tens of thousands, the decision to move to a module can be a good one to access the smaller form factors, and product cost. The decision to move to a custom chipset should be reserved for unit shipments in the millions or for a very specialized, high value application. Ultimately, for a new IoT application most developers will start at the top of the stack in order to quickly validate the solution, application, and gain feedback before trying to optimize for costs.