Research and Markets: Bluetooth: Low Energy and High Speed Join the Party - Bluetooth Attach Rates Rise, While Total Addressable Market Falls in 2009

DUBLIN-(Business Wire)-September 28, 2009 - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/9dc04e/bluetooth_low_ene) has announced the addition of the "Bluetooth: Low Energy and High Speed Join the Party" report to their offering.

The global recession began to adversely impact the shipment of Bluetooth-enabled devices in the second half of 2008, with mobile phones and mobile PCs being particularly affected. Growth should resume in 2010 and continue through 2013.

Bluetooth continues to spin out a number of different specifications to fit different markets.

The latest are:

Bluetooth low energy, targeted at sports and wellness, health, and consumer electronic (CE) applications, and
Bluetooth 3.0 + High Speed, a specification that was announced in April 2009, which combines classic Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to transmit large data files.

This report contains five-year forecasts for the penetration of Bluetooth into 18 separate applications within the PC, PC peripheral, communications, CE, automotive, and industrial/medical segments. Additionally, five-year forecasts are provided for Bluetooth silicon ASPs, as well as for shipments and revenues of varying Bluetooth silicon types. The report also contains responses on Bluetooth recognition from a large, domestic In-Stat online survey as well as profiles of major Bluetooth silicon manufacturers.

Bluetooth Attach Rates Rise, While Total Addressable Market Falls in 2009

Bluetooth is on track to increase attach rates in many key market segments, reports this report. However, the recession is taking its toll on the end equipment markets for Bluetooth, as Bluetooth-enabled equipment shipments will shrink 4% in 2009.

Within the Bluetooth market, however, it is not all doom and gloom. The Bluetooth 3.0 + High Speed specification, a true breakthrough, was announced as the next official standard in April. It offers high speed data transfer, nearly 10 times the rate of current Bluetooth technology, while providing the same capability and preserving Bluetooth interoperability.

"The new standard is an integrated solution that capitalizes on the two most successful wireless technologies to date, Bluetooth and 802.11," says Brian O'Rourke, In-Stat analyst. "This will allow Bluetooth to move large data files, such as music, videos, and photos at a rate similar to Wi-Fi. Up to now, low data rates have been a big stumbling block for Bluetooth in the Consumer Electronic (CE) market."

Recent research found the following:

Bluetooth semiconductor revenue will approach $4 billion by 2013. Bluetooth 3.0 will represent the largest share of semiconductor revenue by 2012.
Shipments of devices with Bluetooth will rebound to growth in 2010.
43% of In-Stat's survey respondents are very or extremely familiar with Bluetooth. Among those 34 and younger, the percentage is over 60%.
The Bluetooth attach rate for mobile phones is expected to be 63% in 2009.
Radio integration, using Bluetooth as the wireless platform, continues to gain serious market momentum. Recent research, Bluetooth: Low Energy and High Speed Join the Party, covers the worldwide market for Bluetooth technology. It includes:
Unit forecasts for Bluetooth-enabled products by category through 2013.
Unit and revenue forecasts for Bluetooth semiconductors through 2013.
Analysis of Bluetooth standards and integration.
Examination of competitive technologies.
Profiles of Bluetooth silicon competitors: Atheros, Broadcom, CSR, Infineon Technologies, Marvell Semiconductor, Nordic Semiconductor, Qualcomm, ST-Ericsson, and Texas Instruments.