October 30, 2006
Bluetooth Devices Could Double in '06
The number of systems shipping this year with Bluetooth could double the 250 million units sold in 2005, said IMS Research in its latest report, but wireless USB could become a speed bump on Bluetooth's ramp.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The number of systems shipping this year with Bluetooth could double the 250 million units sold in 2005 and hit 1.5 billion units by 2010, said a market watcher. But wireless USB (WUSB) could become a speed bump on Bluetooth's ramp, said IMS Research in its latest report on the wireless interface.
The report comes as members of the Bluetooth Special Interest group gather in San Jose this week to discuss higher-speed versions of the interface. The current Bluetooth Version 2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate hits a data rate of 3 Mbits/second.
The Bluetooth SIG partnered with the WiMedia Alliance in March to migrate the protocol to an ultrawideband transport similar to WUSB and has been demonstrating early versions of the technology. Meanwhile, a formal certification program for wireless USB chips was announced in late September. The move paves the way for the first flow of WUSB-based products probably early next year.
Both Bluetooth and wireless USB aim to establish personal area networks (PANs) to transfer data between a variety of devices over short distances. To date, Bluetooth has mainly focused on PANs for cellphones while WUSB, heavily promoted by Intel Corp., is focusing on PANs for PCs.
The impact of Bluetooth in some applications in the medium term is still in the balance, as how fast the alternative wireless technology WUSB makes headway in the PC, office equipment and digital camera markets is not yet clear, according to Fiona Thomson, an analyst for IMS Research (Wellingborough, UK).
What is clear is that the penetration of Bluetooth in cellular handsets has increased enormously over the recent past, boding well for its adoption in other equipment in the future, added Thomson who authored the group's annual report on Bluetooth. The report was officially released today (Oct. 30) to promoter and associate members of the Bluetooth SIG.
Bluetooth is mainly used to link cellular phones and wireless headsets. That area will still represent three quarters of all Bluetooth shipments by 2010, but Bluetooth will become increasingly popular in notebook PCs, portable media players and handheld games machines, according to IMS.
Separately, Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc. (Waterloo, Ontario), announced Monday (Oct. 31) support for Bluetooth in its DriveSync products that track vehicle use for commercial and consumer users. The company's existing products used a wired USB module to download vehicle information.
