IMS Research reports less than half of IEEE 802.15.4 ICs shipped in 2009 (20 million) are Zigbee certified.

Due to its fragmented nature-- where a large number of small deals accounts for most of volume sold-- the 802.15.4 IC market is mostly underestimated.

IMS says some application areas are moving to standardised solutions. 802.15.4 ICs using proprietry software will lose 20% market share to ZigBee and RF4CE by 2010's end-- even if their shipments will triple by 2015.

Demand for standardised solutions will continue growing, especially in developing consumer markets. These include consumer health monitoring devices and home area networking (HAN) devices able to communicate with smart metering gateways.

The demand for 802.15.4 solutions using proprietary software will also grow-- they can offer simpler network stacks (with lower memory overheads) and avoids ZigBee certification costs. Such solutions are ideal when "open" networks are not needed or wanted.

Go Over 20 Million 802.15.4 Chips Sold in 2009, Fewer Than Half ZigBee-Certified