The market for short range wireless ICs is booming in 2010 and total shipments are expected to increase approximately 18% compared to 2009, according to market intelligence firm ABI Research.
The research firm said that short range wireless ICs, including Bluetooth, NFC, UWB, 802.15.4 and Wi-Fi have been widely adopted in computing, communication, and consumer products in the recent years. It expects bluetooth ICs, which lead the short range wireless IC market, to exceed 55% of total short range wireless IC shipments in 2010.
ABI Research said that bluetooth-enabled home entertainment products has formed as an emerging market and is forcing an increase in the Bluetooth IC shipments. It expects bluetooth ICs to be widely adopted by networked and handheld game consoles.
According to the "Short Range Wireless ICs: Bluetooth, NFC, UWB, 802.15.4, and Wi-Fi Market Forecasts" report, cellular handsets segment is leading the high number of Bluetooth-enabled product shipments, which is followed distantly by the notebook and UMD segment.
Celia Bo, analyst at ABI Research, said: "Bluetooth Low Energy wireless technology opens an absolutely new and very significant market opportunity for products and devices which need low cost and low power wireless connectivity."
