Wireless Connectivity RF Front-End Technologies for Consumer Market 2021

5G UNDER SCRUTINY, BUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ELSEWHERE ?

While all eyes are on 5G, other connectivity standards such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ultrawideband are also evolving. One thing we all learned during the repetitive COVID lockdowns is that broadband internet became essential for survival, as observed with data traffic peaking due to streaming and video calls during the repetitive lockdowns. This is due to a higher data consumption per device and an increase in the number of connected devices per user. This increase was enhanced significantly by the wireless standards that provide freedom of mobility, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ultra-wideband technologies. Although its evolution is less noticeable than cellular standards, Wi-Fi is as important as 5G in this acceleration of the digital transformation.

Consumer premises equipment devices such as routers and mesh systems will also benefit from these new developments. We estimate that consumer mesh systems will penetrate the market more rapidly, growing from 15Munits shipped in 2021 to 56Munits in 2026. At the same time, the volume of consumer routers will remain stable YoY, but the RF BoM will further increase with the higher penetration of 4×4 MIMO, Wi-Fi 6E, and the future Wi-Fi 7 6GHz band.

However, Wi-Fi is not the only standard seeing significant developments. Bluetooth standards are also being optimized for specific use cases; for example, Bluetooth Low Energy audio (BLE Audio) is becoming crucial to serving the true-wireless stereo hearables market. The new BLE Audio offers a new high-quality codec (LC3 Codec) that provides a good power consumption/audio quality compromise; this was completed with the multi-stream capability that enables simultaneous transmission to multiple audio sink devices. This new capability comes at a crucial time for the hearables market, where the volume of TWS earbuds and wireless headsets is expected to more than double, from 387Munits shipped in 2021 to over 900Munits expected to be shipped yearly by 2026, with Apple leading this market.

With its highly precise positioning and localization capabilities, ultra-wideband technology has also benefited from the COVID situation. As it gains traction in the consumer market for contract tracing, touchless access control use cases, like touchless door opening, are expanding. This technology pull initiated by Apple, then extended by Samsung, Xiaomi and the likes, is also introduced in the automotive industry with for instance BMW, VW and others. It could ultimately replace our keys.

For this report, we investigated the connectivity RF FE in three important consumer categories, smartphones, tablets and laptops, routers, mesh devices, repeaters/extenders, and 4G/5G mobile hotspot routers. We also investigated TWS earbuds and wireless headsets, and wearables such as smartwatches, fitness bands, and AR/VR smart glasses.

THE ADDITION OF EXTRA RF CHAINS WILL RESULT IN A $4.3B RF FRONT-END MARKET BY 2026

Two factors will lead to significant growth in the connectivity RFFE analyzed device market. The first is volume growth of specific devices, such as wearables embedding a 2.4GHz SAW filter, while the second is the addition of new RF Chains for 2×2 and 4×4 MIMO devices, plus the 6GHz band RF Chains. The number of 6GHz bands will vary depending on the device, whereas 4 6GHz RF Chains are increasingly popular for backhaul in mesh Wi-Fi devices. We estimate that the RFFE market of the products analyzed will grow from $2.7B in 2021 to $4.3B in 2026 with a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2021 and 2026, excluding the chipsets’ market value.

Smartphones, tablets, and laptops take the lion’s share. Here we estimate that Wi-Fi/BT/UWB is responsible for an RFFE market valued at $2B in 2021, while by 2026, this Connectivity RFFE market will grow to $3B with an 8.4% compound annual growth rate between 2021 and 2026, excluding the chipsets’ market value. This increase is driven by rapid implementation of UWB, Wi-Fi 6E, and 2×2 MIMO in smartphones, translating into a higher connectivity RF BoM.

HIGHER FREQUENCY AND LARGER BANDWIDTH: MORE RESOURCES ARE REQUIRED

Wi-Fi is becoming more reliable and, more importantly, faster to keep up with the requirements for streaming and HD video calls. Some of the recent Wi-Fi developments include beamforming in Wi-Fi 5, and the reintroduction of the 2.4GHz band in Wi-Fi 6, in addition to the upgrade to Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA). Wi-Fi 6E goes even further by adding the 6GHz band. These developments significantly improve the quality and capacity of data transfer. This trend will continue in Wi-Fi 7, where multi-link operation will take data rates to the next level by aggregating available channels in different bands ( 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz).

From an RF Front-end point of view, Wi-Fi 6E (and future Wi-Fi 7) come with their fair share of technical challenges, especially for devices such as smartphones that implement both cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity. These devices have coexistence issues; In low-end smartphones, OEMs “avoid” this problem by using software to arbitrate between Wi-Fi and 5G. This software arbitration is also common amongst Chinese OEMs since a 5G connection is preferred. For mid and highend smartphones, however, high-performance hybrid filters (MLC + IPD filters, for example) are required to cover the whole 160MHz bandwidth. However, BAW filters have proven to perform at higher frequencies and will rapidly replace this hybrid approach. At the same time, MLC will remain the leading technology for routers and mesh devices where only Wi-Fi is implemented. Major companies such as Qualcomm, Qorvo, Skyworks, Broadcom, and Murata are working on multiple filter technologies, offering both SAW and BAW filters.

However, further developments in filters, PA/LNA, and switch designs are still required since the challenge of increasing bandwidth will continue in Wi-Fi 7, where a 320MHz bandwidth and 4K QAM Modulation are expected. For this, linearity remains a challenge.

While smartphones require more integrated solutions to address the new bands and 2×2 MIMO, solutions such as monolithic PA/LNA/Switch are becoming increasingly attractive to replace the separate PA and LNA/Switch functions. On the other hand, the consumer premises equipment with fewer area constraints will continue implementing both FEMs and discrete RF Components, with mid and highend devices leaning towards FEMs to integrate more RF Chains. It is worth mentioning that current mesh systems include an average of 8 RF chains, and this will increase to 12 by 2024.

Active Semi, AGC, Airoha, Akoustis, Anhui YUNTA Electronic, Apple, ASE, Asus, Broadcom, CanaanTek, Cavendish Kinetics, ChipBetter, Corning, Cypress Semiconductor, DB-HiTek, Dowa, EE, Elisa, Epic MEMS, Ericsson, EtraSemi, Ferfics, Freiberger, GlobalFoundries, Global Wafer, Google, HH Grace, HiSilicon, HMD Global, Honor, HTC, Huawei, Huntersun-MEMS, Infineon, Intel, IQE, JRC, KDDI, KT, Kyocera, Lansus, Lenovo, LG, LG Siltron, LG U+, Maxscend, MediaTek, Meizu, Microgate, Murata, NationZ, Nokia, NSI, NXP, Okmetic, Omnivision, ON Semiconductor, OnePlus, Onmicro, Oppo, Pinnacle Microwave, pSemi, Qorvo, Qualcomm, Radrocktech, Realme, Resonant, Richwave, RoFS microsystems, Sappland Microelectronics, Samsung, Samsung Electro Mechanical, Sana, SAWNICS, Shin-Etsu, Shoulder, Siltronic, Skyworks, Smarter Micro, SMIC, Soitec, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Sumco, Sumitomo Electric, Sumitomo Metal Mining, Sunrise, SWI, Taiyo Yuden, TCL, TDK EPCOS, Toshiba, Tower Semi, Tpsco, TSMC, UMC, Unisoc, USI, Vanchip, Vivo, WaveTek, WillSemi, WIN Semiconductors, WIPAM, Wisol, Xfab, Xiaomi, Xinpletek, Yamaju Ceramics, Yuzhen IC and more.

Key features of the report:

• Executive summary
• Market forecasts
  • System-level forecast
  • RF component level forecast
  • Wafer starts
• Consumer wearables market trends
  • TWS earbuds and wireless headsets
  • Smart-watches and fitness bands
  • AR/VR headsets
• Customer premises equipment market dynamics and trends
  • Consumer routers
  • Extenders/repeaters and mesh Wi-Fi systems
  • Mobile 4G/5G hotspot routers
• Mobile consumer market dynamics and trends
  • Laptops
  • Tablets & smartphones
• Market shares
  • End system market shares
  • RF component suppliers’ market rankings
  • Ecosystem and technology landscape
• Technology trends
  • Wi-Fi
  • Bluetooth and UWB
  • Technology and components

• System-level forecast
• RF component level forecast
• Wafer starts

• TWS earbuds and wireless headsets
• Smart-watches and fitness bands
• AR/VR headsets

• Consumer routers
• Extenders/repeaters and mesh Wi-Fi systems
• Mobile 4G/5G hotspot routers

• Laptops
• Tablets & smartphones

• End system market shares
• RF component suppliers’ market rankings
• Ecosystem and technology landscape

• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth and UWB
• Technology and components

Objectives of the report:

E-commerce, virtual events, and working-from-home proved that broadband and Wi-Fi are vital for our lives and economy.
Although 5G has been getting a lot of attention lately and is expected to improve some of these issues, it does not mean that there aren’t other developments happening in the “background”. There have been several advancements in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and ultra-wideband in recent years. These standards changes will significantly propel the connectivity market and the RF components market with it, thus creating a massive opportunity for the industry players. This report will investigate the consumer connectivity dedicated RF components in several markets such as :

• 1. Consumer premises equipment
• 2. Wearables
• 3. Mobile Consumer ( laptops, tablets & smartphones)

We will also provide examples of RF architecture and evolution for each device on this list.

Glossaries 2

Table of contents 3

Scope of the report 4

Why this report? 8

3 pages summary 9

Executive summary 13

• Key Takeaways

Market forecasts 68

• System level forecast (Munits)
• RF component-level market forecast ($M,Munits)
• Technology breakdown (Munits)
• Wafer starts (kwafers)

Consumer wearables market trends 111

• TWS earbuds and wireless headsets
• Smart-watches and fitness bands
• AR/VR headsets

Customer premises equipment market trends and dynamics 137

• Consumer routers
• Extenders/repeaters and mesh Wi-Fi systems
• Mobile 4G/5G hotspot routers

Mobile consumer market trends and dynamics 167

• Laptops
• Tablets & smartphones

Market shares & supply chain 192

• End systems market shares
• RF component suppliers’ market rankings
• Ecosystem and technology landscape

Technology trends 212

• Wi-Fi technology description and trends
• Focus on Wi-Fi 6E & 7 key features
• Bluetooth and UWB technology description and trends
• Technology and components evolution

Outlook and conclusions 259

• Outlook