ABI Research‘s latest report “BLE Tags and the Location of Things” puts forward a bold prediction with regard to “iBeacon” technology.
iBeacon, if you’re not familiar, is the indoor positioning system described by Apple as a “new class of low-powered, low-cost transmitters” that enables push notifications to be sent to iOS devices in close proximity, has found a new advocate.
Over the last twelve months, says ABI, iBeacons /BLE beacons have “caught the zeitgeist” and emerged as a key anchor technology in the retail space.
“However,” the report author explains, “there are many other markets that will generate even bigger volumes of BLE beacon shipments over the next 5 years, creating a 60 million unit market in 2019.”
Senior analyst Patrick Connolly says it may “surprise many to see that retail is the smallest market covered in the report. In building terms, many stores are relatively small in comparison to a corporate office or hospital, while the items being tracked i.e. consumers, are already BLE-enabled through their smartphones, further limiting the number of beacons required.”
These findings are part of ABI Research’s Location Devices and Location Technologies Market Research.
