Ultra-Wideband Prepares Itself for the Mobile Phone Market
According to a new report from IMS Research, UWB is forecast to penetrate this market in low volume in 2007 and rise to a penetration rate of around 20% by 2011. The report reveals that Wireless USB is predicted to be the first PAL to market, taking an early lead while UWB/Bluetooth draft specifications are finalised. By 2011 Bluetooth over UWB is expected to take the lead in this market. However, multiple protocol layers are expected to prevail in this product.
The mobile phone market is likely to be an important market for UWB for a number of reasons. The sheer size of the available market means that even if relatively low penetration rates are achieved, there is a huge potential market for UWB. The potentially negative effect of cellular terminals on markets such as PDAs, MP3 players and digital cameras only heightens the importance of the cellular market to the future of UWB. Finally, the mobile phone is at the centre of the wireless personal area network; UWB's usage and presence in the cellular space increases the likelihood that it will be incorporated into a number of other devices.
Fiona Thomson, Market Analyst for IMS Research explained, "The sharp rise in the number of feature phones and smart phones has meant that the demand for extra connectivity is becoming an extremely crucial factor. We see smart phones adopting UWB first with feature phones following around 12 months later. By 2011, we believe that UWB chip prices will have fallen to a price that makes it viable for phone manufacturers to start to include UWB in mid-tier phones should there be a requirement for the high-data rate technology here."
Posted to the site on 20th July 2006