The wireless market is on the up and up after a post-pandemic slump. Supply chain shortages have dissipated, and demand for wireless devices saw significant growth in 2H 2024 and through 2025.
Many technological innovations are reshaping the wireless landscape, encompassing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth®, smart home, and more. In this blog, we identify six wireless trends ABI Research analysts are watching in 2026 and beyond.
Table of Contents
1. Wi-Fi HaLow Will Gain Wider Support
2. AI Will Not Fully Automate Wi-Fi Network Management
3. Bluetooth® Will Transform Healthcare
4. Ultra-Wideband Will Start Maturing
5. Multi-Protocol Connectivity Will Bring Interoperability to the Smart Home
6. AI Agents Will Make Smart Homes Smarter
1. Wi-Fi HaLow Will Gain Wider Support
Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11 ah) is gaining traction in the wireless market, especially in commercial and industrial applications. Marquee vendors such as Morse Micro and Newracom, in tandem with regional consortia like Japan’s AHPC, are helping mature HaLow technologies.
According to ABI Research market forecasts, Wi-Fi HaLow-enabled device shipments will grow at the fastest rate among wireless connectivity technologies (45% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between 2025 and 2030). This brings total annual shipments from 19 million to 124 million.
Smart home and Internet of Things (IoT) applications are the primary demand drivers for HaLow. Key use cases include home automation devices, energy management, voice-control front ends, and electronic shelf labels.
Table 1: Wi-Fi HaLow-Enabled Device Shipments, 2025 to 2030
(Source: ABI Research)
|
Segment |
Shipment Units |
2025 |
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
2029 |
2030 |
CAGR 25-30 |
|
Smart Home |
(Millions) |
10.9 |
17.1 |
26.5 |
35.6 |
47.1 |
59.0 |
40% |
|
Energy Management |
(Millions) |
2.3 |
4.3 |
7.2 |
13.2 |
21.4 |
30.4 |
68% |
|
Electronic Shelf Labels |
(Millions) |
0.3 |
0.8 |
2.3 |
4.2 |
6.6 |
9.5 |
97% |
|
Asset Management and Location Services |
(Millions) |
2.4 |
3.2 |
4.5 |
6.2 |
8.4 |
10.6 |
35% |
|
Other |
(Millions) |
3.1 |
4.9 |
6.5 |
8.7 |
10.8 |
13.9 |
35% |
|
Total |
(Millions) |
19 |
30.2 |
47.1 |
67.8 |
94.3 |
123.5 |
45% |
I held a keynote session at the first Wi-Fi HaLow Global Summit in early 2025. My ABI Insight breaks down key findings. Learn more
2. AI Will Not Fully Automate Wi-Fi Network Management
My colleague, Andrew Spivey, is studying the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in enterprise Wi-Fi networks. Key benefits include improved user experience, energy efficiency, automated network management, etc.
There is no doubt that AI will transform Wi-Fi networks. It will:
- Reduce employee headcounts
- Change how Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are tracked
- Enable small-scale teams to scale
- Drive a shift to Operational Expenditure (OPEX) consumption models
Despite this positive impact, complete network automation is, at the moment, a long shot. One of the top concerns is outsourcing critical decision-making to Generative AI and Agentic AI tools. The stakes are too high to remove a human from the loop. Other roadblocks include multi-vendor interoperability, a lack of end-to-end network observability, and AI talent shortages.
ABI Research will continue to update its assessment of AI in Wi-Fi across its Wi-Fi & WLAN Technologies & Markets Research Service.
Explore this trend further in Spivey’s blog, “No, AI Won’t Fully Automate Wi-Fi Network Management for Enterprises. But Here’s What It Can Do.” Read this
3. Bluetooth® Will Transform Healthcare
Another emerging trend in wireless networking is the increasingly important role of Bluetooth® in healthcare. Bluetooth® is already familiar to most mobile users and has substantial vendor support. It’s also low-power and has strong security capabilities. For these reasons, Bluetooth® is an ideal fit for healthcare applications.
Bluetooth®-enabled devices can measure heart rate, sleep quality, stress levels, blood oxygen, glucose, skin temperature, and other wellness metrics. Moreover, Bluetooth® technology is revolutionizing Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) by sharing real-time patient health data with medical professionals.
Bluetooth® connectivity is also helping hospitals optimize patient care. In a recent blog post, I noted that “Real-time tracking improves asset management, staff safety, and hygiene compliance, while reducing delays and errors in care delivery.”
Bluetooth® technology is redefining the healthcare sector and improving health outcomes by monitoring real-time data from medical trackers, computing devices, smartwatches, and fitness trackers. Learn more in the market research note, How Bluetooth® is creating a healthier world. Read now
4. Ultra-Wideband Will Start Maturing
Ultra-Wideband (UWB) device shipments are forecast to nearly triple from 527 million in 2025 to 1.4 billion by 2030. The IEEE 802.15.4z standard has been a huge catalyst, supporting automotive digital key and personal tracker applications. Broader UWB support for home and commercial building access is expected in the coming years, enabled by wireless smart locks and access control readers.
Furthermore, the omlox open standard shows promise to drive UWB growth in the Real-Time Locating System (RTLS) segment.
Smartphones account for more than half of total UWB device shipments throughout the forecast. The UWB technology penetration rate in smartphones is anticipated to increase from 27% in 2025 to 52% by 2030.
Table 2: Ultra-Wideband (UWB)-Enabled Device Shipments, 2025 to 2030
(Source: ABI Research)
|
Segment |
Shipments |
2025 |
2026 |
2027 |
2028 |
2029 |
2030 |
CAGR 25-30 |
|
Smartphones |
(Millions) |
340.7 |
403.7 |
462.8 |
546.1 |
638.1 |
750.1 |
17% |
|
Asset Management and Location Services |
(Millions) |
57.3 |
62.6 |
74.9 |
89.5 |
106.8 |
129.2 |
18% |
|
Automotive |
(Millions) |
34.9 |
48.5 |
61.3 |
78.1 |
100.3 |
124.8 |
29% |
|
Wearables |
(Millions) |
42.5 |
57.7 |
74.7 |
91.2 |
106.7 |
122.5 |
24% |
|
Smart Home |
(Millions) |
21.1 |
29.1 |
39.3 |
50.1 |
63.4 |
80.2 |
31% |
|
Home Entertainment and Connected Home |
(Millions) |
9.5 |
14.5 |
23.6 |
31.7 |
38.5 |
46.6 |
37% |
|
Other |
(Millions) |
21.7 |
32.6 |
48.3 |
70.8 |
100.3 |
135.0 |
44% |
|
Total |
(Millions) |
527.7 |
648.8 |
784.9 |
957.4 |
1,154.1 |
1,388.3 |
21% |
ABI Research believes UWB technology will flourish if the wireless market replicates its success from the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and Wi-Fi Alliance. This allows wireless technology vendors to test new deployments, standardize technologies, and secure a beneficial regulatory environment. For example, the 802.15.4ab standard provides several upgrades across range, power consumption, accuracy, setup, and discovery.
Our UWB Market Evolution: Automotive and IoT Applications report assesses the key opportunities and challenges of UWB technology. Download today
5. Multi-Protocol Connectivity Will Bring Interoperability to the Smart Home
There’s also an expectation that multi-protocol wireless platforms will be a big trend through the rest of the decade. This enables vendors to accommodate a wider range of applications, notably in the smart home space.
Smart home connectivity standard Thread will likely benefit from the shift to multi-protocol wireless devices. Thread is closely intertwined with Matter™, which is itself growing in importance for low-power devices. It acts as an underlying application layer for Matter™, as is the case with IKEA’s new smart home products.
This leaves us with the fate of Zigbee in light of the multi-protocol trend. ABI Research believes that while Zigbee views Thread as a key competitor in the smart home market, it should be shielded from significant threats as it’s already a dominant connectivity solution in its own right and can be bridged to Matter™.
6. AI Agents Will Make Smart Homes Smarter
The convergence of multi-agent communication protocols and advanced wireless infrastructure is transforming smart home automation. New protocols like MCP, A2A, ACP, and AGP are enabling AI agents to collaborate across devices, brands, and frameworks. Paired with technologies like Wi-Fi 6/7, Thread, Matter™, and UWB, these protocols will support real-time coordination, context awareness, and adaptive behavior.
Leading platforms like Google’s Workspace, Amazon Alexa, Samsung SmartThings, and LG ThinQ are already showcasing multi-agent coordination for tasks ranging from document scheduling to kitchen automation. Ambient sensing and wireless telemetry allow AI systems to detect occupancy, manage energy use, and anticipate user needs without manual input.
Strategically, multi-agent protocols promote interoperability and modularity. As a result, the wireless market may shift from rule-based home automation to dynamic, service-oriented ecosystems.
The rise of “Agent-as-a-Service” models and edge inference hubs represents a broader transition toward scalable, vendor-agnostic infrastructure. ABI Research expects these protocols to become foundational to monetizing AI-native smart living, with impact well beyond the home.
ABI Research VP, Malik Saadi, covered this development in his ABI Insight, “How Wireless Innovation and Agentic AI Will Converge to Enable Next-Generation Smart Living Experiences.” Read now
Visit our Wi-Fi, Bluetooth & Wireless Connectivity research service for more wireless trends.