Research and Markets: wireless technology trends report 2009 report

Monday, 07 September 2009 09:08

Emerging wireless component market is to reach $13.2-billion in 2014

Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Wireless Technology Trends Report 2009 report to their offering.

Market growth projected in spite of current economic conditions.

The Wireless Technology Trends Report evaluates the market potential for emerging wireless technologies including applications of WiMAX, IEEE 802.16m, LTE, Bluetooth, UWB, IEEE 802.11n, IEEE 802.15.4, and ZigBee.

The report also analyzes the effectiveness of existing technologies, reviews the progress of standards development, and examines the strategic activities of market makers.

"Over the last 12 months, many of the emerging wireless technologies are being adopted by OEMs who are beginning to exploit market sectors ranging from home automation to industrial and consumer electronics," according to Kirsten West, principal analyst with WTRS.

"From wireless sensor networks to wireless connectivity to Telecom applications, emerging wireless-based products are beginning to penetrate the market. While growth in some sectors has been slowed by current economic conditions, the overall picture today is one of general positive market expansion."

Key Findings

(1) The Bluetooth SIG went through an expansion campaign over the last 18 months to incorporate newly-emerging protocols such as near-field communications (NFC), Wibree, and WiFi.

(2) Publication of the ZigBee Smart Energy profile is driving the release of many new products.

(3) Wireless high definition video is an application that significantly matured over the last 12 months. The market for wireless delivery of high definition video promises to be large, with decisive consumer adoption once the technology is proven in end products.

(4) WiMAX is significant competition to alternative technologies in emerging markets.

The market for wireless enabled devices is trending towards the integration of as many wireless protocols as possible into one device and thus one chipset. There are a number of reasons driving this integration of wireless protocols. End product OEMs are integrating new wireless technologies that add new functionality for the end user. This in turn drives semiconductor companies to integrate more wireless protocols into a chipset. Semiconductor companies are responding to the constant commoditization of chips and erosion of gross margins by attempting to add as much value as possible into a single RF component and thus stave off the inevitable margin erosion. The massive and single-minded effort to integrate all available RF protocols into the same component is also encouraged by regulatory bodies such as the FCC, who envision an opportunity to charge spectrum licenses not just once, but perhaps multiple times. The US military is also stimulating the effort, in large part as a self-serving means to purchase off-the-shelf parts for its 'Connected Battlefield.'

This report reviews the prominant wireless technologies and protocols in place today as well as those emerging from the standardization process. Protocols such as WiMAX and Bluetooth have in many ways already emerged through the standards process but are directed by relatively young, dynamic, and evolving standardization bodies.

The primary growth areas for wireless components over the next 5 years are Wireless Telecom and Wireless Sensors. In the Wireless Telecom segment, key emerging protocols to evaluate include LTE, IEEE 802.11n, and IEEE 802.16e (colloquialized as 'mobile WiMax'). In the Wireless Sensor segment, ZigBee, and IEEE 802.15.4 are the standard emerging protocols likely to dominate over the next 10 years.

At Least 55 Companies Mentioned, Some Include:

Acer

Alcatel-Lucent

Altair Semiconductor

Alvarion

Amimon

Arch Rock

Atmel

Beceem

Belkin

Bluetooth SIG

Certified Wireless USB I/F

Cisco

Clearwire

Huawei Technologies

IETF

Infineon

Intel

Sibeam

Siemens Networks

Sony Corporation

Sony Ericsson

Sprint Nextel

Toshiba Corporation

UQ Communications

USB Implementors Forum

Verizon

WHDI SIG

WiMAX Forum

WirelessHD Alliance

WirelessHD Interest Group

ZigBee Alliance

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/d73d4a/wireless_technolog

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