In-Stat reports that wireless PAN, ZigBee market could shoot up 200% by 2009

Scottsdale, AZ— The market for IEEE 802.15.4 wireless, personal area networking (PAN) technology and the ZigBee specification network layer are poised for skyrocketing growth, according to new research by In-Stat , a high-tech market research firm and division of Reed Business Information.

The report, “802.15.4 SoC & SiP Surge as ZigBee Faces Residential Competition,” projects that use of 802.15.4 nodes/chipsets could grow by 200% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2004 to 2009, and that annual shipments may surpass 150 million units in 2009. In-Stat’s report covers the worldwide 802.15.4 market. It presents conservative and aggressive forecast scenarios for unit shipments, bill of materials average sales price, and revenue for chipsets. It also includes profiles of leading vendors.

“In December 2004, the ZigBee Alliance completed a major milestone, which was final signoff on the ZigBee 1.0 specification. Even considering proprietary competition, the promise of many benefits of 802.15.4 and ZigBee standardization still hold true. Although standardization takes longer, a major advantage of 802.15.4 and ZigBee is that they offer OEMs a menu of multiple silicon sources and ZigBee networking layer suppliers” says Joyce Putscher, In-Stat’s research director and principal analyst. ‘Additional advantages include pricing competition and system vendor partnering opportunities.’

In-Stat adds that its research also found that:

• Low-cost, low-power, low-data-rate 802.15.4 networking technology is receiving attention from many companies involved in industrial control, home automation, and commercial building control, spanning everything from nuclear power plants to hotels. The first residential products are just barely emerging on the scene.

• Commercial building control is expected to capture the lion’s share of the 802.15.4 market, in terms of node/chipset volumes, but not design wins.

• Together, system-in Package (SiP) and System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions will drive easier system/product development and lower the costs of adding this wireless capability to sensor networks.

Control Engineering Daily News Desk
Jim Montague, news editor
jmontague@reedbusiness.com

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