Market Studies
1394 Market and Technology Study
Bluetooth on the Bubble :
Desperately Needed: Interdependent Applications, Device Integration & Infrastructure

Published: June 2001

Overview | Benefits | Table Of Contents

$4495 - Single-user Word 97*
$8495 - Unlimited-user Word 97*

* print copy included with Word 97
Overview:
Vendors' failure to keep their cost, delivery, and interoperability promises has seriously damaged Bluetooth's prospects, but there is still time to refocu strategies and achieve success. That is one of the conclusions of the new 89-page report, Bluetooth In-depth: Applications & Strategies, marketed by IGIC Inc. and produced by Datacomm Research.

"There are myriad applications for wireless personal area networks, and there could easily be 1.5 billion Bluetooth devices by 2005," said Michael Hentschel, Managing Director of TechVest Ventures and principal author of the report. "But there is little profit in isolated applications; vendors must create application chains -- series of interdependent tasks that together add value," he concluded.

"This report explains why Bluetooth's future is in jeopardy and presents concrete recommendations for putting both the technology and business models back on track," said Ira Brodsky, President of Datacomm Research. "But it's going to take coordinated vendor effort to create the necessary infrastructure and prevent Bluetooth from fragmenting into incompatible flavors," he added.

Bluetooth In-depth: Applications & Strategies includes six major recommendations for revitalizing Bluetooth, plus sections on applications (the top 50), business planning scenarios, obstacles, and market positioning. Thirty-five vendors representing a wide variety of strategies are also profiled.

Additional conclusions found in Bluetooth In-depth: Applications & Strategies:

  • Bluetooth offers the most economical solution for low- to medium-speed device connectivity. Infrared's (IrDA) window of opportunity has passed. The 802.11 standards will dominate high-speed applications, but Bluetooth should achieve far greater unit volumes.
  • Bluetooth must work with 802.11 wireless LANs as well as 2G, 2.5G, and 3G mobile phone networks. Multi-mode devices that communicate over the best air interface for each task -- in some cases switching rapidly between them -- will become increasingly common.
  • Proximity applications, in which Bluetooth devices are automatically connected when they come within range, will be crucial. Retail kiosks, pay phones, and other public access points will support proximity services.
  • Voice applications represent a substantial opportunity for Bluetooth. Headsets are an obvious application, but speech recognition, text-to-speech, and VXML will create new opportunities for voice-driven information access.
  • Bluetooth participants should emulate specific aspects of NTT DoCoMo's successful i-mode service, particularly the way it strings together multiple applications, while recognizing important limitations of the i-mode model.

Table of Contents

1. Can Bluetooth Deliver On Its Promises?

  • 1.1 Bluetooth Finally Arrives at Launch Pad
  • 1.2 What Bluetooth Is and Isn't
  • 1.3 Competing and Complementary Technologies
  • 1.4 Bluetooth Markets in Context
  • 1.5 Urgently Needed: Coordinated Strategies
  • 1.6 Application Chains -- Key to Maximizing Profits
  • 1.7 Venture-Stage Companies to Watch
  • 1.8 Summary of Conclusions

2. Bluetooth Business Planning Scenarios

  • 2.1 Wireless Internet Market Stalls
  • 2.2 3G Wireless Delayed
  • 2.3 3G Wireless Explodes
  • 2.4 GSM Versus CDMA
  • 2.5 SiGe Versus RF-CMOS
  • 2.6 Public Wireless LANs Proliferate
  • 2.7 Bluetooth Integration Delayed
  • 2.8 Infrared Catches Second Wind
  • 2.9 Bluetooth's Fate Tied to M-commerce

3. Obstacles to Bluetooth Adoption

  • 3.1 The Hype Factor
  • 3.2 Late to Market
  • 3.3 Limited Speed
  • 3.4 Limited Interoperability
  • 3.5 Interference
  • 3.6 Inept Applications
  • 3.7 Wrong Applications
  • 3.8 Insufficient Profits
  • 3.9 Lack of Security
  • 3.10 Unclear Demand
  • 3.11 Inadequate Hardware and Software
  • 3.12 Too Many Players
  • 3.13 Not Enough Coattails

4. Actual and Potential Bluetooth Applications

  • 4.1 The Three-In-One Phone
  • 4.2 Bluetooth Music Channel
  • 4.3 The Ultimate Messenger
  • 4.4 The Ultimate Headset
  • 4.5 Always-On Cyberspace
  • 4.6 Automatic Synchronization
  • 4.7 IrDA Replacement
  • 4.8 Teen Networking Effect
  • 4.9 Untethered Keyboards and Displays
  • 4.10 Special Offers or Spam?
  • 4.11 Wireless Advertising
  • 4.12 Home and Facility Security
  • 4.13 In-store Networks
  • 4.14 Automobile as Net Appliance
  • 4.15 Bluetooth Games
  • 4.16 Location-based Billing
  • 4.17 Ticketing
  • 4.18 Car Keys
  • 4.19 Digital Photos
  • 4.20 Digital Cameras
  • 4.21 Home Automation
  • 4.22 Voice Command
  • 4.23 Hands-free Telephony
  • 4.24 Game Zones
  • 4.25 In-flight Services
  • 4.26 Bluetooth Healthcare Services
  • 4.27 Bluetooth Financial Services
  • 4.28 Wireless Privacy
  • 4.29 E-mail / Internet / Intranet Access
  • 4.30 Sports Applications
  • 4.31 Information Kiosks
  • 4.32 Hotel Applications
  • 4.33 Combination Phone & PDA
  • 4.34 Internet Radio
  • 4.35 Wireless PC Accessories
  • 4.36 Order Tracking
  • 4.37 Bluetooth Remote Control
  • 4.38 Alerts and Monitoring
  • 4.39 Mobile Lotus Notes and Domino (Workflow)
  • 4.40 V-Commerce
  • 4.41 Wireless File Transfers
  • 4.42 News Headlines
  • 4.43 Business Card Swapping
  • 4.44 Weather & Traffic Reports
  • 4.45 i-mode-style Applications
  • 4.46 Personal Area Phone Lines
  • 4.47 Emergency Services
  • 4.48 Electronic Clipboards
  • 4.49 Vehicle Docking
  • 4.50 Advanced Personal Area Networks

5. Key Application Areas Up Close

  • 5.1 Location-specific Services
  • 5.2 Home Automation
  • 5.3 Peer-to-Peer Services
  • 5.4 Wireless and Instant Messaging
  • 5.5 Handheld Voice and Data Services
  • 5.6 Content Services
  • 5.7 Everything, Everywhere Over 3G Wireless
  • 5.8 Entertainment and Games
  • 5.9 The Wireless Automobile
  • 5.10 Short and To the Point (i-mode type)
  • 5.11 Bar Coding & Automatic Identification
  • 5.12 Wireless Coupons
  • 5.13 The Wireless Wristwatch
  • 5.14 HDTV and Digital TV
  • 5.15 MP3 Music

6. Major Bluetooth Positioning Issues

  • 6.1 Paths to Profit
  • 6.2 Clouds on the Wireless Horizon?
  • 6.3 To Network or Not to Network?
  • 6.4 Blowing Past HomeRF
  • 6.5 Can Bluetooth Succeed Where Infrared Failed?
  • 6.6 Back to Basics: Customer Satisfaction
  • 6.7 Is America's Wireless Future Different from Europe's?
  • 6.8 Is WAP Dead on Arrival?
  • 6.9 Will 2.5G Pre-empt 3G?
  • 6.10 Will 4G Leapfrog 3G?
  • 6.11 Preparing for Wideband Bluetooth
  • 6.12 Strings, Beads, and Internet Appliances
  • 6.13 Ultra-Wideband Radio
  • 6.14 Atheros' 5-UP Proposal
  • 6.15 SiGe versus RF-CMOS versus GaAs

7. Select Bluetooth Developer Profiles

  • 7.1 Agere Systems -- Orinoco
  • 7.2 Anoto AB – Emerging Web Pads
  • 7.3 Ashvattha Semiconductor – Multi-mode SiGe Chips
  • 7.4 Atheros Communications Inc. – A Bluetooth Alternative
  • 7.5 Atmel Corp. – Bluetooth Chip Designer and Manufacturer
  • 7.6 BlueSocket - Wireless Applications in Hardware and Software
  • 7.7 Cranite Systems –Enterprise-wide Management Solutions
  • 7.8 Ericsson – Bluetooth's Inventor
  • 7.9 IBM -- The Giant Backs SiGe
  • 7.10 Infineon (Siemens)
  • 7.11 Intel – Many Applications & Standards
  • 7.12 Jamdat Mobile – Interactive Gaming
  • 7.13 LightSurf Technologies – Wireless Image Communications
  • 7.14 MindLoc.com - Location Based Service Enabler
  • 7.15 Microsoft – .Net, Stinger, and Hailstorm
  • 7.16 Mobilian -- Multimode Devices
  • 7.17 Motorola, Inc.
  • 7.18 National Semiconductor – Buying Into Single-Chip Bluetooth
  • 7.19 Newlogic – Boost Bluetooth Applications Software Modules
  • 7.20 Nokia
  • 7.21 NTT - DoCoMo – Application Leader
  • 7.22 Parthus – A Multi-Protocol Platform
  • 7.23 Pinpoint - Wireless Search Facility
  • 7.24 Qualcomm
  • 7.25 Red-M
  • 7.26 Sonera
  • 7.27 Sprint PCS – Wireless Web for Business
  • 7.28 Sun Microsystems – Jini and More
  • 7.29 3Com
  • 7.30 Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc.
  • 7.31 Vindigo – PalmOS Applications
  • 7.32 Webraska – Location-Based Content
  • 7.33 Windwire – Wireless Advertising
  • 7.34 Wireless Valley – In-Building Wireless
  • 7.35 Zeevo – First Single Chip Solution

Tables and Figures

  • Table 1 Most Profitable Bluetooth Applications
  • Table 2 Highest Volume Bluetooth Applications
  • Figure 1 Application Chains for Maximizing Profits
  • Figure 2 Microsoft's Application Chains for Dominance
  • Table 3 Venture Stage Companies to Watch
  • Table 4 Factors Driving/Inhibiting Bluetooth
  • Table 5 Comparative Requirements of Major Bluetooth Applications
  • Table 6 Why IrDA (Infrared) Failed to Achieve Widespread Use
  • Table 7 Six Steps the Bluetooth SIG Should Take to Advance Bluetooth
  • Table 8 Comparison of Bluetooth and 802.11b Wireless
  • Figure 3 Critical View of SiGe Manufacturing
  • Figure 4 SiGe v. GaAs v. CMOS Performance
  • Figure 5 Microsoft's Strategy For Dominating Application Chains

TOP