RFMD Confident of Continued 802.11 Front-end Leadership in WLAN-Enabled Handsets
(Business News & Technology News, 25 Mar 2008)
RF Micro Devices Inc. expects continued leadership in this year in WLAN-enabled cellular handsets, based upon continued traction for the RF5924 WLAN power amplifier and favorable design activity related to additional RFMD WLAN front end solutions. RFMD's RF5924 WLAN power amplifier was said to be the highest volume 802.11 front end in WLAN-enabled handsets in 2007.
RFMD is one of the leading suppliers of cellular front ends for mobile devices and enjoys unrivalled relationships with handset manufacturers. As such, the company is uniquely positioned to deliver cost-effective 802.11 front ends into the high-growth market for WLAN-enabled mobile devices. Industry analysts estimate that approximately 29 million of the 1.1 billion cellular handsets shipped in 2007 were WLAN-enabled. That number is projected to grow to 80 million in 2008 and 170 million in 2010, significantly outpacing the rate of growth of the handset market.
RFMD is expanding its portfolio of WLAN components, including 802.11 b/g front ends for mobile devices and recently launched 802.11n front ends for notebook computers. The company is currently sampling its RF5725 802.11 b/g front end module to lead customers and anticipates the RF5725 will support RFMD's continued leadership in 802.11 front ends for WLAN-enabled mobile devices. The highly integrated RF5725 front end module contains a high-linearity/high-efficiency power amplifier (PA), a low-noise amplifier (LNA) and a transmit/receive/Bluetooth switch.