Ericsson to end development of Bluetooth
Ericsson yesterday said it will stop the design and development of new Bluetooth technology. The company plans to support existing Bluetooth customers, including Koninklijke, Philips, and STMicroelectronics, but it will not seek new Bluetooth business. Ericsson said it is disbanding Ericsson Technology Licensing, its Bluetooth research and development unit. The company said it is abandoning Bluetooth due to a lack of sufficient long-term market prospects. Ericsson was one of the founders of Bluetooth and was a leading wireless industry evangelist for the technology.
The news has sent anti-Bluetooth partisans into a fit of self-righteousness. Many industry insiders have long dismissed Bluetooth. Despite a recent uptake in the use of Bluetooth in smart phones and other handhelds, critics claim that Bluetooth's future was ruined by the growth of WiFi and the emergence of new technologies like Ultrawideband. There is no word yet how this news will impact the Bluetooth SIG.
For more on the Ericsson's decision to leave Bluetooth behind:
- read this report from InfoWorld
