Smart Bluetooth market to take off helped by wearables

The worldwide Bluetooth Smart and Smart Ready market – also known as Bluetooth 4.0 – will be worth $3.9 billion by 2020 (£2.4 billion), helped by the growing wearables market, according to analyst Markets and Markets.

The Bluetooth Smart and Smart Ready market was worth $2.3 billion in 2013, said Markets and Markets, but it will grow at a CAGR of 9.2 percent up to 2020 to reach the $3.9 billion. The figures include updated Bluetooth products in the automotive, consumer electronics, wearable electronics, healthcare, buildings and retail markets.

The new generation Bluetooth platform was designed to reduce energy consumption and tackle the tendency of constantly pairing and re-pairing connected gadgets. Bluetooth Smart Ready serves devices like smartphones and tablets, and Bluetooth Smart serves the peripheral gadgets they can connect to.

“The Bluetooth Smart and Smart Ready market is a very dynamic market and offers great potential across many industry verticals,” said Markets and Markets. “The competitive landscape of the market presents a very interesting picture, as it is witnessing large scale acquisitions and partnerships across the value and supply chain,” it added.

Antony Savvas

York, UK-based Antony Savvas has been a technology journalist for 25 years and has expertise in all major areas of enterprise and consumer IT. He has worked for a number of leading technology magazines and websites and his work is syndicated across the internet. He also undertakes corporate work for some of the world's leading technology companies.