RF components market to reach $5.6 billion by 2016, as per a study

Due to increasing adoption of 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) tech, IHS iSuppli says revenue for RF components comprising power amplifiers, duplexers and switches is projected to reach $5.6 billion by 2016, up a notable 60 percent from $3.5 billion in 2010. The findings shared by IHS includes: This year, the RF component space will bring in $4.7 billion, compared to $4.2 billion last year. Each year during the forecast from 2010 to 2016 will witness market growth ranging from 4 to 12 percent. The onset of 4G LTE will be a driving force in the market for RF components, the materials and building blocks used to build circuitry for catching wireless radio signals. In handsets, the RF front end has seen trends in integration over the past few years, and the rise of smartphones as well as LTE will provide welcome opportunities for RF component manufacturers to satisfy an ever-growing appetite among consumers for faster access to mobile data. In essence, handset manufacturers moving from simply supporting 2G/3G to also backing 4G on top of the older technologies will need to determine whether to integrate the RF components supporting an increasing number of frequency bands and an expanded set of operational modes. The decision is a complex one, because integration can take place at different levels within a single product category, such as switches. However, as handset ma...