Wireless Connectivity ICs to surpass USD 8<em>bn</em> in 2011

The total market for standards-based wireless connectivity ICs is expected to exceed 3.5 billion units per annum in 2011. “Broadcom leads the market with Qualcomm, CSR, and Texas Instruments all snapping at its heels,” says Peter Cooney, practice director, semiconductors. “The market will total more than $11 billion per annum by 2014.” Wireless connectivity technology is well established in many electronic device markets. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS are becoming ubiquitous in certain devices, such as smartphones, with attach rates approaching 100% in some cases. Rapid growth is forecast for newer technologies such as NFC, Bluetooth v4.0, Wi-Fi Direct, and 802.11n. “Wireless connectivity has developed into a strong revenue stream for many leading global semiconductor suppliers,” adds Cooney. “Those that have focused on expanding their product portfolio and transitioning their businesses toward providing combo ICs have seen the most growth in market share.” As the wireless connectivity industry has matured and the market has grown to a multi-billion dollar business, many suppliers have sought to diversify their product ranges and expand into other markets. This has been achieved in large part by mergers and acquisitions. Broadcom, Qualcomm Atheros, CSR, TI, STMicroelectronics, Marvell, MediaTek, and Intel (Infineon) now all supply a wide range of wireless connectivity technologies.