Analyst predicts bright future for Bluetooth

More than half of Bluetooth-enabled equipment to ship worldwide in 2013 will be mobile handsets

Almost 2.4 billion units of Bluetooth-enabled equipment will ship worldwide in 2013, new research predicts.

ABI Research said that more than half will be mobile handsets, and that notebooks and portable music devices will run a distant second and third.

However, the compound annual growth rate for portable music devices will be by far the greatest of any product class.

"Integration is a key trend in Bluetooth markets," said ABI Research senior analyst Douglas McEuen.

"Designers are saying that Bluetooth is in everything, and are asking what else they can add to the Bluetooth chip. GPS is a popular candidate, as is FM radio."

McEuen pointed out that some forms of integration add only speed and range, such as the current development of Bluetooth over 802.11, and that the same is true for ultra wideband.

The Bluetooth Special Interest Group is working with the WiMedia Alliance to create a technology codenamed Seattle which will also add ultra wideband high speed capabilities to Bluetooth.

"The big Bluetooth integrated circuit vendors (CSR, Broadcom and Texas Instruments) remain the market leaders," said McEuen.

"And as they see OEMs moving to develop Bluetooth into a more capable solution, they are meeting that demand."