In-Stat: Bluetooth Market To Expand

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. — Despite delays, economic slowdown and a recent slew of negative reports, the emerging Bluetooth market will shine, according to Cahners In-Stat Group.

The company forecasts that demands for Bluetooth-enabled devices will provide substantial opportunities for the technology, with Bluetooth-enabled equipment shipments soaring to 955 million units in 2005, a 360 percent five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The semiconductor opportunity in this area will also be substantial as Bluetooth radio and baseband silicon will rise to $4.4 billion in 2005.

"[Last year] was a year of trials and tribulations for Bluetooth. However, positive signs are here as more silicon is going into production, more products are closing in on production schedules and are coming to market very soon," says Joyce Putscher, director of In-Stat's consumer and converging markets and technologies group.

In-Stat has also found:

• Adapters and cards will rule the lion's share of the market in the near term, then relinquish the market to embedded Bluetooth solutions; however, the adapter/card market will represent a significant market even in 2005.
• Integrated RF/Baseband chip solutions, with and without memory, will continue to emerge and take a strong hold in 2002, realizing very significant gains by 2003.

Cahners In-Stat Group is a unit of TWICE's parent firm, Cahners Business Information. To purchase this report or for more information, contact Erin McKeighan at 480.609.4551 or erin@instat.com.