ZigBee poised for 3,400 per cent growth

Fuelled by a rapid rise in home networking, ZigBee IEEE 802.15.4 high-speed wireless revenues will rocket by 3,400 per cent in the next four years, research has claimed.

According to newly unveiled analysis from Frost & Sullivan, revenues from ZigBee chipset sales reached $18.8m in 2004. Revenues are projected to reach $700m in 2008.

ZigBee chipset promoters are taking cautious steps to promote the technology in order to avoid any setback as experienced by Bluetooth, another technology targeting wireless personal area networks.

Despite the introduction of numerous technologies, only those with performance capabilities have endured in the market, the analyst firm found.

"To successfully meet the growing need for an open standards-based solution, participants must ensure that the technology adequately meets demands and is appropriately propagated among consumers without projecting it as an ubiquitous technology for all applications," said Frost & Sullivan senior research analyst Deepa Doraiswamy.

"Care must be taken to ensure that the solutions efficiently meet all promises and ensuing demands to guarantee successful adoption by end users."

Within the next two to three years, a minimum of 100 to 150 ZigBee chips are anticipated to be present in every home, Doraiswamy predicted.