Nearly 2 billion Bluetooth chipsets to ship in 2014, says ABI Research

Nearly two billion Bluetooth chipsets are forecast to ship in 2014 alone, according to ABI Research. More than half will be found in wireless handsets. In the same year, almost 1.5 billion Wi-Fi chipsets are expected to ship and again, more than one third of that total will be used in handsets.

"Several factors are driving the strong growth in Bluetooth and even more in Wi-Fi chipset markets," noted practice director Philip Solis. "ASPs for both technologies continue to fall. Wi-Fi will get a big boost from Wi-Fi Direct, which allows direct peer-to-peer communication between devices at short range. Finally, Bluetooth is increasingly found in combination with a variety of other technologies, including FM radio, GPS, and Wi-Fi.

"Combining Bluetooth with other technologies in a single chipset helps reduce costs," said Solis. "It also saves space in devices such as handsets where that may be a precious commodity. In 2014, Bluetooth will be found in 70% of all handsets and 83% of all netbooks."

Bluetooth will also increasingly be supplemented by the newer Bluetooth low-energy (BLE), ABI added.