BLUETOOTH BITES BACK: SONY ERICSSON AND NOKIA LEAD THE WAY BUT AVAILABILITY AND COST STILL A CONCERN

Bluetooth is here and it's here to stay according to a report just published by Berlin based market research firm Metrinomics. 91% of those who took part in the online study currently use or intend to use Bluetooth - the remaining 9% are currently developing or intend to develop applications and products for Bluetooth. Further Bluetooth cheer is provided by the overwhelming consensus amongst respondents that Bluetooth will survive and succeed in the market. 87% of Bluetooth Developers contend that Bluetooth?s technological future is assured. Ordinary Bluetooth users are less certain in their belief that Bluetooth is now 'safe', but still constitute a majority of the sample (56%).

Bluetooth is here and it's here to stay according to a report just published by Berlin based market research firm Metrinomics.

91% of those who took part in the online study currently use or intend to use Bluetooth - the remaining 9% are currently developing or intend to develop applications and products for Bluetooth. Further Bluetooth cheer is provided by the overwhelming consensus amongst respondents that Bluetooth will survive and succeed in the market. 87% of Bluetooth Developers contend that Bluetooth's technological future is assured. Ordinary Bluetooth users are less certain in their belief that Bluetooth is now 'safe', but still constitute a majority of the sample (56%).

79% of those questioned concur that Bluetooth will become a widespread wireless standard (this despite the fact that 88% consider Wi-Fi to be a potential Bluetooth threat). Bluetooth manufacturers shouldn't be in too much of a rush to put up the bunting though. Price, applications/device availability and poor levels of technical support for developers remain nagging areas of concern for a number of Bluetooth users. Not enough devices ship with Bluetooth onboard, and Bluetooth has yet to achieve a level of market presence which will sink prices below current Bluetooth addition costs according to the report.

Sony Ericsson has established a clear lead over Nokia as both Best Bluetooth Provider and Main Bluetooth Provider. TDK Systems, who signed a global agreement to develop new Bluetooth applications and products with Sony Ericsson last year, took the third and fourth spots in the best provider and current provider categories respectively. Future synergies between TDK Systems and Sony Ericsson should see the former consolidate its position and growing reputation further still. Sony Ericsson also tops the Main Bluetooth Provider rankings - 29.6% compared to second placed Nokia's 17.6%.

'Sony Ericcson and Nokia apart, the results do point to a very fragmented market with not much to choose between Bluetooth providers. The results show that more and more people are getting behind Bluetooth despite abiding price and developer technical support reservations. More importantly, the threat faced by Bluetooth from rival technologies, more specifically Wi-Fi, does seem to have diminished quite significantly. The prospect of Bluetooth becoming the Betamax of the wireless world now seems less than remote' said Metrinomics Research Projects Manager Matt Slater.