Bluetooth Low Energy Exhibiting Strong Growth While Wireless IC Shipments Expand

According to the latest market forecast from ABI Research, Bluetooth Low Energy devices will account for 27% of total Bluetooth shipments by 2021 as new enhancements expand opportunities in IoT. According also to ABI Research, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 802.15.4, NFC, and GNSS markets are forecasted to reach more than 10 billion annual IC shipments by 2021, with Bluetooth integrated in 60% of total devices.

Freescale Semiconductor introduced the new Kinetis KW41Z – the industry’s first multi-mode radio MCU to support concurrent operation of IEEE 802.15.4 Thread and Bluetooth Smart/BLE connectivity while hosting associated applications. With Bluetooth v4.2 support, the Kinetis KW41Z MCU helps transform simple devices into advanced connected systems.

Silicon Labs introduced its highly anticipated Thread networking solution, delivering a software stack built upon years of mesh networking expertise and the industry’s most advanced mesh networking software development tools. The solution promises to accelerate time to market for new connected devices, control panels, wireless access points and gateways.

The 802.15.4 wireless connectivity market is set to continue its transition towards IP-enabled solutions, increasing from 6% of the market in 2015 to over 30% by 2019, says market researcher ABI Research. Alongside this, the market share of combo ICs from the total shipments of 802.15.4 chips is set to grow from 1% to over 12%.

According to market research company ABI Research, global revenues from smart home automation systems will grow at a 21% CAGR between 2015 and 2020, with the North American market contributing close to 46% globally. Meanwhile 802.11ac Wi-Fi deployments continue to accelerate in 2015 and the market is gearing up to tri-band 802.11ad solutions.