SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ethertronics, a leading technology company enabling innovative antenna and RF system solutions to deliver the best connected experience, today announced that the company is set to ship its one billionth antenna by the end of this year. In just two years’ time, the company has doubled the number of antennas shipped – advancing from the 500-million mark in the fourth quarter of 2011 to one billion at the close of 2013.
Ethertronics’ innovative technologies and design capabilities help OEMs solve their toughest antenna system challenges to deliver high-performance, wireless devices and M2M products for wireless operators and their customers. With a foundation of being integrated into more than 1,000 devices, Ethertronics is set to become the leading global developer of antenna and RF Front End solutions for 3G and 4G (LTE and LTE-Advanced) wireless devices, as well as a provider of solutions for Machine to Machine (M2M) and Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS).
“These past two years have been instrumental in Ethertronics’ growth,” said Laurent Desclos, president and CEO at Ethertronics. “From the continued proliferation of smartphones to the growth of wireless tablets, notebooks and other consumer electronics, the demand for high-performance antenna systems has increased. This has created a major market opportunity for us, especially since antennas and RF systems are a critical component of these devices. Shipping our one billionth antenna is a major milestone for Ethertronics and further validates our leadership position in bringing active antenna, RF systems and chip solutions to market. We predict that we will continue on a similar growth path in the coming year given the constant demand for wireless-enabled devices and the increasing connectivity challenges facing OEMs.”
Ethertronics Sets Predictions for 2014
In addition to predicting continued growth for Ethertronics in 2014, Desclos outlined several other predictions for the coming year. According to Desclos:
“There are a number of absolutes for 2014: LTE network build out and adoption will continue to grow, increasing pressure on operators to offer LTE international roaming and enabling better user experiences. In addition, devices are going to trend toward having even more functionalities built into them while their form factors will continue to become thinner and sleeker, or at least not stay the same. As a result, I predict that we’re going to see a major shift in how OEMs approach mobile device design. With a 25 percent shrink rate of the device form factor to accommodate larger batteries, displays and more, little room is left for the RF componentry. Therefore, the makeup of the components inside these devices will evolve dramatically. Cross collaboration between RF component makers will be paramount to finding an ever-evolving solution, especially since the antenna is the only RF sensor in a device and is critical to optimizing the overall RF front end.
“Already we have made major strides in bringing ‘active antenna systems’ to market – advanced antenna structure combined with active components, such as tunable capacitors and/or switches, driven by increasingly more complex algorithms – to provide advanced capabilities to solve the challenges of 4G. While the industry can expect to see demand for active antenna systems continue, they can also expect to see more advancements and innovations in RF chips that are capable of seamlessly adjusting the cellular antenna’s characteristics to its dynamic requirements for optimal connectivity, covering wider frequency ranges and offsetting hand and head effects.
“In addition, the demand for integrated antenna system solutions – antenna structures, RF chips and algorithms offered as an optimized package solution to OEMs – will grow to eliminate the burden on OEMs to source individual components from different vendors, integrate them and try to make it all work. Buying an optimized system also helps bring products to market faster as OEMs won’t need to devote resources to the steep learning curve that comes with new technologies. It is all about applying technology with a high level of service, speed and quality. These innovative integrated antenna and RF system solutions will have a significant effect on OEMs since they will provide the high-performance capabilities they desire; help them meet the specification requirements for LTE and international LTE roaming; speed up their time-to-market; and reduce their Bill of Materials by combining multiple active components into a single RFIC (tunable capacitor and switch combinations and more).”
Ethertronics launched its first antenna solutions in 2000. These passive antennas were built on the company’s flagship IMD™ technology and have included a wide range of passive antennas, covering 2G/3G/4G Cellular, Bluetooth®, GPS, WiFi, WiMAX for the mobile phone, laptop, tablet and M2M markets still used today. Ethertronics also offers DAS and Small Cell solutions to operators. In 2011, Ethertronics officially launched its Systems Division with a variety of active antenna systems and technologies. Active antenna systems have been designed to add more smarts to the antenna and RF system, enabling devices to provide optimal connectivity regardless of the environment around them. Within the past year, Ethertronics announced its Chip division and introduced products from its EtherChip™ portfolio designed to re-architect the RF Front End ranging from tunable capacitors to switch combination and innovative antenna-chip combinations.
Since it was founded in 2000, Ethertronics positioned itself beyond simply providing “parts.” Instead, Ethertronics is a worldwide, established company that OEMs and ODMs can look to as a global partner, providing local support and solving the challenges posed by advancing technologies to lead their teams to success in a highly competitive market. It is this applied R&D orientation that has fostered a range of solutions that set Ethertronics apart from other companies in the space. To date, Ethertronics has more than 120 patents. Continued innovation coupled with a “partner” mentality and the diversification of the company’s product lines is what has enabled Ethertronics to continue to build momentum in terms of product and customer wins.
About Ethertronics
Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., Ethertronics is a technology company enabling innovative antenna and RF system solutions to deliver the best connected experience for operators, OEMs, and consumers. The company – via its Antenna, Systems and Chip Divisions – is established in designing and manufacturing high-performance embedded antenna system solutions supporting a wide range of applications. Ethertronics’ patented Isolated Magnetic Dipole™ (IMD) technology has a legacy as a strong foundation for passive, as well as active antennas designs. Ethertronics’ technology has been selected by major customers with worldwide shipments over 250 million annually. Ethertronics maintains a global network of design centers and manufacturing operations. For more information, visit www.ethertronics.com.