Advanced uses open new vistas for Bluetooth

Bullish about China's innovation potential and vast market, Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Bluetooth SIG) reaffirmed its commitment to the Chinese market as the organization ramps up local presence and investment.

"Bluetooth SIG is making the biggest investment over the next 18 months into China than any other markets," said Neville Meijers, chief executive officer and executive director at Bluetooth SIG. "We really are focused on making sure that we can support China in a big way."

Meijers noted that in addition to the newly established offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, the organization is also increasing staffing and enhancing localization efforts. These initiatives, he said, are part of Bluetooth SIG's ongoing evolution in support of its local members.

In February, the organization launched its first China entity, Bluetooth SIG (Beijing) Technology Co Ltd, in what is seen as a major step to reinforce its commitment to the Chinese market and its member companies.

Given China's position as a global leader in the manufacturing of integrated circuits and smartphones, the CEO emphasized the need for localized support and expanded staff capacity to ensure that member companies can continue to innovate effectively.

"The organization now has 6,000 members that are China-based, and it's the second-largest concentration of members in the world," he added.

Meijers made the remarks during this year's Bluetooth Asia 2025 conference, which showcased how advanced Bluetooth technologies, such as channel sounding and high data throughput, are being applied in consumer products and expanding into wider commercial and industrial markets.

One example is Bluetooth Channel Sounding, a new feature introduced in Bluetooth 6.0 that enables devices to measure distance with centimeter-level accuracy. Applications include digital keys for vehicles and smart locks for residential and commercial buildings, which have already attracted strong interest from conference participants, Meijers said.

According to Bluetooth SIG data, driven by steady growth across a range of market segments, global Bluetooth device shipments are expected to exceed 5.3 billion units in 2025 and approach 8 billion by 2029.

Meijers pointed out that Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) device shipments are seeing particularly rapid growth, fueled by new use cases across industries.

Thanks to improved power efficiency and flexibility, emerging applications such as wearable devices, smart labels, and electronic shelf labels are accelerating the adoption of Bluetooth LE, opening up fresh market opportunities for developers, he said.

Data from Bluetooth SIG show that shipments of single-mode Bluetooth LE devices are projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 22 percent. They are expected to match the volume of traditional dual-mode Bluetooth devices, the current dominant configuration, by 2028.

"More and more applications and ideation will happen around Bluetooth LE, and that's definitely where the future growth is going to be," Meijers said.