Global Sources Ltd. today released its Market Intelligence Report — Bluetooth Devices: Supplier Capability in mainland China and Taiwan, which reveals that mainland China and Taiwan manufacturers are likely to produce more than 25 million Bluetooth-enabled products this year, an increase of 11 million units compared to last year.

The Market Intelligence Report profiles 49 manufacturers and examines issues such as pricing, production capacity, research and development, and design trends. Eighty percent of those surveyed manufactured Bluetooth-enabled headsets, while more than 30% offer Universal Serial Bus (USB) dongles (external hardware memory device)/adapters, and 14 percent supply vehicle handsfree kits.

Last year, none of the surveyed manufacturers made full use of their production capacity for Bluetooth-enabled products. On average, manufacturers used about 15% of their available capacity. Only one company was using at least half of its capacity; and 13 were using 10% or less. This was because 10% of manufacturers only started product development last year and 10% were waiting for demand to improve. The outlook for this year is more favorable, with at least 64% of surveyed manufacturers seeing their output growth rate accelerating within the next two to three years.

About 90% of those surveyed expect rising chipset output volumes to drive down Bluetooth chipset costs in the next 12 to 24 months, which in turn will reduce the prices of finished goods. Europe is the main export market, absorbing 58% of shipments. More than half of those surveyed are also looking to enter the US and Asian markets.