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In recent years, driven by Apple, UWB chips are creating a global craze. This has also attracted many chip manufacturers to invest in this market. From a public account of HiSilicon called "Terminal Chip Recruitment", we can see that HiSilicon, a subsidiary of Huawei, is also joining this field. As shown in the figure below, Huawei is recruiting digital chip designers to be responsible for the architecture design and competitiveness building of short-range wireless chips such as WiFi, Bluetooth, GNSS, NFC, and UWB.
According to Giorgio Zanella, a market analyst at Techno Systems Research, in his latest report "Ultra Wideband Market Analysis 2021", the current UWB (ultra wideband) market we often discuss consists of four main application categories: real-time positioning systems (RTLS B2B), such as industrial and retail indoor positioning system applications; mobile phones (smartphones, wearable devices, consumer tags); automobiles and smart homes. Other applications include smart doors, gates and payments.
The report further pointed out that in 2021, global UWB shipments are expected to reach more than 200 million units and exceed 1.2 billion units by 2027. According to its estimates, smartphones will become the largest application market for UWB in 2027, followed by automobiles, smart home devices, wearable devices, consumer tags and RTLS B2B.
First, let's look at the RTLS B2B market. According to Giorgio Zanella, the outbreak of COVID-19 and the Industrial 4.0 trend boosted the demand for UWB in the corresponding market in 2020. Driven by new applications, the UWB market will achieve strong growth in 2021 and beyond, and related products will be integrated into devices such as lighting, enterprise Wi-Fi access points, and indoor navigation in public areas.
Based on these considerations, Techno Systems Research predicts that the ultra-wideband market size for RTLS B2B applications will grow more than 7 times in 2027 compared to 2020.
Looking at the mobile market, the report points out that between 2019 and 2020, Apple has introduced UWB in devices such as the iPhone 11 series, iPhone 12 series, Apple Watch Series 6 and HomePod mini. Techno Systems Research said that in 2021, in addition to "Airtag", Apple will also embed UWB technology in the new Apple TV. Because Apple's UWB application is very fast, Techno Systems Research believes that by 2023, the iPhone will become one of the most important driving forces for the development of UWB.
They further pointed out that starting with the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, Samsung has embedded UWB technology into the Galaxy Z Fold 2, S21 Ultra and S21 Plus and later new phones, and the Korean mobile phone manufacturer will become an important driver of the UWB market. They also predict that Oppo, Vivo and other OEMs will release their first flagship smartphones with UWB.
In the view of Techno Systems Research, 2021 is a big year for UWB-based consumer tags.
UWB consumer tags will cover different use cases, including using AR for precise positioning or triggering an app to open in a specific area and other areas. According to Techno Systems Research, even Xiaomi is working on smart tag products. Therefore, Techno Systems Research predicts that by 2027, there will be general smartphones with UWB.
Looking at the automotive industry, UWB has gradually become the norm in cars since 2020, and many car manufacturers including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have also made related attempts. The report predicts that the penetration rate of UWB per car will gradually increase, from about 15% of the total automotive market in 2025 to 23.3% in 2027.
Coming to the smart home market, according to Techno Systems Research, in October 2020, Xiaomi demonstrated several potential smart home appliances that could adopt UWB. Even Oppo introduced a potential use case during "Inno days 2020". But so far, only Apple has released a smart speaker with UWB.
The application of UWB technology in smart home appliances will be driven by related use cases through precise positioning and interaction with smartphones. For this reason, we expect that the penetration of UWB in the field of smart home devices will decline by 2023, rebound from 2024, and by 2027, the share of UWB products in the smart home device market will be about 17%.
In terms of other applications, UWB smart door products have not yet been released, but major companies such as HID Global, Assa Abloy, Dormakaba and Allegion are developing UWB smart door products. We expect to see the first products in the smart door/security field starting in 2022.
Similarly, UWB terminals for gate access and payment applications are not yet available on the market. However, last year, a manufacturer demonstrated NFC contactless payment using UWB technology. For this reason, we expect that 2023 to 2024 may be the starting point for gate access applications, and the second half of 2025 will be the starting point for payment applications.
*Disclaimer: This article is originally written by the author. The content of the article is the author's personal opinion. Semiconductor Industry Observer reprints it only to convey a different point of view. It does not mean that Semiconductor Industry Observer agrees or supports this point of view. If you have any objections, please contact Semiconductor Industry Observer.
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