, /PRNewswire/ -- Inventory stacking, a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, drove cellular module growth in 2021 and even into 2022. However, in 2023 it was a major headwind, driving a shipment decline of over 5% relative to 2022. What has buoyed the spirits of the cellular module market has been the growth of Cat-1bis.
According to a new report from global technology intelligence firm cellular module forecasts show that Cat-1bis will replace nearly 70% of the Cat-1 market by 2029. For years, many Cat-1 IoT devices were designed using only a single antenna which sometimes required carrier approval for use on their networks. LTE networks are ubiquitous with good coverage hence a single antenna was sufficient.
But what device OEMs and chipset vendors realized is that Cat-1 module costs can be reduced even more by building a dedicated Cat-1bis chipset with send and receive functions delivered over a single antenna. Not only could power consumption be lowered but also component costs. The Cat-1bis standard in 3GPP Release 13 formalizes the common, yet informal use of single antenna Cat-1 devices.
The original Cat 1 specification in 3GPP Release 8 required two antennas. Commenting on the new data, , Vice President, Enabling Platforms at ABI Research, says, "Like many new developments in the cellular IoT market, is leading with deployment of Cat-1bis. Outside of , Cat-1bis penetration is much lower since it is typically the replacement technology for new device designs.
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