In a study entitled Bluetooth: The Global Outlook, ABI Research (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) expects the market will grow at a compound annual rate of over 40 percent between 2004 and 2011, with equipment shipments expected to break the 1 billion mark by 2009.

Several new applications for Bluetooth are likely to emerge in the medium term, notably in the gaming market, likely to be spurred by the releases of the Nintendo Revolution and Sony's oft-delayed Playstation 3.

Stuart Carlaw, principal analyst, wireless connectivity, noted, "This growth will be attributed to extremely robust attach rate gains in the cellular handset market as well as a continuation of the explosive growth in the headset market."

He added, "The importance of the stereo headset cannot be discounted. This product provides one half of a match made in heaven with music-enabled cellular handsets. We expect this type of product to drag Bluetooth into a myriad of other use cases, such as rear seat entertainment in the vehicle and the long-awaited Bluetooth MP3 player."