2021: The Year of UWB?

The last couple of years have laid the foundation for Ultra-Wideband (UWB) to become a mainstream wireless connectivity technology across a number of consumer and IoT applications over the next decade. ABI Research expects 2021 to be a critical juncture in UWB’s rollout and increased adoption thanks to wider chipset availability, adoption across multiple segments, and the formation of a strong UWB ecosystem across the whole supply chain. A number of key product and industry organization announcements in 2020 and early 2021 have demonstrated that UWB is here to stay, though a key question remains on where exactly the technology will build its strongest success.  

• UWB Industry Organizations: In June 2020, the UWB Alliance and FiRa Consortium announced a formal liaison to help accelerate the development and adoption of UWB technology, with the former focusing on regulation, and the latter on use case specifications, interoperability, and certification programs. In August 2020, the new IEEE 802.15.4z amendment was published, bringing several improvements to the standard including improved ranging integrity. In September 2020, the FiRa Consortium added a further 21 members to its growing network, including Thales, Cisco Systems, and STMicroelectronics, as well as numerous adopter members across the globe.
• Chipsets: In the chipset space, Qorvo completed its acquisition of UWB pioneer Decawave in February 2020, and STMicroelectronics acquired UWB specialist BeSpoon in July and became a promoter member of the UWB Alliance in December 2020. NXP recently extended its UWB portfolio by unveiling its Trimension SR040 and SR150 ICs, targeting IoT use cases such as smart locks and Real-Time Location System (RTLS) tags, building on its existing smartphone and automotive UWB solutions.
• Smartphones and Mobile Accessories: Apple’s decision to develop and utilize its own UWB technology in its iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 series of devices in late 2019 and throughout 2020 has given significant attention to UWB technology. Samsung first introduced UWB within its Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, and has since incorporated this into its latest Galaxy S21 Ultra and Galaxy S21+ devices. The company has promoted leveraging the technology for keyless vehicle entry, proximity sharing, and augmented reality-based location of nearby devices. While Apple has been rumored for some time to be developing an “AirTags” personal tracker solution, Samsung also recently introduced its own Bluetooth and UWB SmartTag and SmartTag Plus solutions, with the UWB version to be released later this year. Traditional leaders in this space such as Tile are also heavily rumored to be developing an UWB solution.
• Automotive: One of the key markets being promoted by UWB advocates is within keyless automotive vehicle access. In January 2021, BMW announced that the BMW Digital Key Plus with UWB technology will be coming to the BMW iX, promoting UWB’s strong precision and ability to ensure that relay attacks are not possible. The solution is based on the Car Connectivity Consortium’s Digital Key specification 3.0, which leverages UWB and BLE to enable users to leave their mobile phone in their bag or pocket when accessing or starting the vehicle, in addition to new location-aware capabilities.
• Smart Home and Home Entertainment: Xiaomi has also recently demonstrated UWB being leveraged within a variety of smart home devices such as fans, lamps, and smart speakers, highlighting the growing potential of the UWB ecosystem. ABI Research expects the UWB smart home market to achieve a CAGR of 56% between 2020 and 2025. Apple has also incorporated UWB within its HomePod mini smart speaker. The HomePod mini was recently updated to allow streamlined handoff of content such as music, calls, and podcasts with iPhones. By leveraging UWB, the device is able to add visual and haptic feedback and provide listening suggestions when the iPhone is in close proximity to the speaker, as well as displaying controls on the device without needing to unlock. Numerous home and building security vendors are members of UWB industry organizations and have promoted the potential of UWB for secure keyless entry within both home and commercial environments. Devices such as smart door locks are likely to see a migration to UWB over time as the ecosystem builds.
• Wearables: Apple has also added UWB to its latest Apple Watch Series 6, demonstrating Apple’s commitment to the formation of a strong UWB ecosystem within its devices. By 2025, ABI Research anticipates that many other wearable vendors will have followed suit, growing from 45 million annual shipments in 2021 to more than 122 million at this time. There are several potential use cases for the technology including unlocking UWB-enabled PCs, laptops, tablets, or vehicles, offering the user instant access to the device.

Once embedded within a sizeable installed base of smartphones, it is clear that new opportunities will emerge within the mobile accessory space alongside wider consumer electronics applications. Though it is difficult to predict exactly which will be the largest markets, it is clear that UWB is here to stay and that a strong ecosystem of devices is emerging. The year 2021 will see this growth accelerate, growing to nearly 300 million device shipments. This could range from laptops and tablets to speakers, voice control front ends, home appliances, consumer robotics, and other applications, and can be utilized in a number of different ways. UWB, for example, is also being leveraged as a sensor technology for presence detection. Norwegian sensor company NOVELDA recently partnered with Lenovo to equip its ThinkPad X1 Nano with a UWB presence sensor that enables the device to detect when users are approaching or moving away from the device, enabling automatic locking and unlocking.

However, there are still many obstacles to be overcome. While chipsets are growing in availability from a number of vendors, these are still expensive and reserved for flagship and higher-end devices as things stand. It may take some time for UWB to penetrate the lower end of the device markets. Interoperability between devices and vendors is not yet guaranteed, which may hamper the scalability of the market. Vendor lock-in and restrictions in compatible tags or other accessories may hinder market growth. There are still some regional restrictions and challenges in spectrum availability that need to be overcome. In addition, competitive (and collaborative) technologies such as Bluetooth are continuing to evolve with new ranging features in the future, which may diminish some of the impact of UWB over time. However, it is clear that an ecosystem is beginning to form, and while Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi have led the charge, ABI Research expects many other smartphone vendors to follow suit in the years to come. This will help to build awareness and installed base of UWB technology, grow the wider accessory market, and enable new and unique use cases to develop within smart home, home entertainment, automotive, and a variety of emerging applications. The year 2021 is therefore expected to become a key year for the technology, in which UWB builds a stronger presence on the chipset and device market, as well as within the broader consumer consciousness.