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Over five billion Bluetooth products are shipped each year, making the continually evolving technology the most widely deployed wireless standard in the world.
In 2024, Bluetooth evolved further and reached several key milestones, including increased real-world deployments of Auracast broadcast audio in public venues and the release of Bluetooth Channel Sounding – a new secure, fine-ranging feature that will enhance the convenience, safety and security of Bluetooth connected devices.
And if the latest projections from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) are anything to go by, there’s no sign of the upward trajectory for Bluetooth slowing down anytime soon.
Bluetooth to maintain market dominance
The Bluetooth Market Update 2025—a Bluetooth SIG report supported by updated forecasts from industry analyst ABI Research along with insights from several other analyst firms—suggests Bluetooth will maintain its dominance in the short-range wireless market throughout the decade and beyond. Driven by steady growth across many Bluetooth market segments, Bluetooth device shipments are projected to surpass 5.3 billion units in 2025 and reach 7.7 billion units by 2029.
Shipment trends reflect the evolution of Bluetooth technology across its supported radio types. Today, Bluetooth dual-mode devices remain the dominant radio configuration. At the same time, single-mode Bluetooth LE device shipments are experiencing rapid growth, fueled by new use cases across industries.
Emerging applications like smart labels and electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are helping to drive adoption of single-mode Bluetooth LE, and the technology’s low power consumption and flexibility continue to unlock new market opportunities for developers.
Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast raise the bar for audio
The figures above are a powerful statement for innovations like Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast broadcast audio. Through the introduction of these technologies, Bluetooth continues to raise the bar for audio performance and flexibility, supporting higher quality sound, lower power consumption, seamless connectivity across audio devices—particularly hearing aids and wireless headphones—and new listening experiences like shared audio in public venues.
Over 3.1 billion Bluetooth LE Audio-enabled devices are expected to ship annually by 2029, while 1.5 million public venues are set to be transformed into Auracast locations, making inclusive listening experiences widely accessible within five years.
Bluetooth supports a better world
As well as contributing to a more accessible and inclusive society, the Bluetooth SIG expects Bluetooth will play a key role in creating a world that is healthier, more convenient, more productive, and more sustainable.
Bluetooth connectivity supports the seamless communication between medical devices and healthcare providers, optimizing telehealth operations while improving patient outcomes and access to care. In the connected health and fitness space, 477 million Bluetooth wearables, 70 million+ Bluetooth smart rings, and 60 million Bluetooth home health monitoring devices are expected to ship annually by 2029.
On the sustainability front, the World Economic Forum claims 20 percent of global food production is lost or wasted, with much of it spoiling during storage and transport due to inadequate monitoring. Meanwhile, 70 percent of retail employees still rely on paper-based audits, leading to operational inefficiencies, according to ABI Research.
The Bluetooth SIG believes Bluetooth can assist businesses in optimizing resources, reducing waste, and contributing to a greener economy—a sentiment supported by its prediction that 760 million Bluetooth asset tracking tags, 140 million Bluetooth smart labels, and 138 million Bluetooth ESLs will ship annually by 2029. According to Deloitte, implementing ESLs leads to an 80 percent reduction in time spent on price updates.
Nordic nRF54L Series powers the latest innovations
For the various applications mentioned above and others to perform at an optimal level, the combination of powerful processing, reliable wireless connectivity and ultra-low power consumption is often vital. To that end, Nordic Semiconductor’s next-generation nRF54L15 ultra-low power wireless SoC doubles the processing power, triples the processing efficiency, and significantly reduces the power consumption of its comparable predecessor.
In addition to expanded memory of 1.5 MB non-volatile memory (NVM) and 256 KB RAM, the next generation nRF54L Series integrates a low-power RISC-V coprocessor, supporting advanced application requirements without additional external components.
Furthermore, Nordic’s acquisition of Neuton.AI and partnership with Edge Impulse (two leading providers of ‘TinyML’ platforms) have unleashed ultra-efficient and easy-to-use machine learning (ML) on the edge, with the industry-leading nRF54 Series SoCs enabling Edge AI with low power consumption and extended battery life.
On top of which, Nordic’s recent acquisition of long-term partner Memfault Inc.—the market-leading Cloud platform provider for device observability, management and secure over-the-air software updates—now promises developers unprecedented device reliability in the field.
With the backing of a complete solution provider, wireless technology developers can expect Bluetooth to go from strength to strength, and continue to drive innovation across every industry.
