Nokia sees surge in Bluetooth phone market in 2006

HELSINKI (Reuters) - The world's top handset maker Nokia sees global Bluetooth mobile phone sales rising 65 percent year-on-year in 2006 as the short-range radio technology gains popularity, the company said on Wednesday.

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"The Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone market grew to 133 million units in 2005 and we expect it to grow to 220 million units in 2006," Razvan Olosu, Vice President of Mobile Enhancements at Nokia, said in a statement.



Nokia said last month it expected global handset sales to grow more than 10 percent in 2006 from around 780 million units last year.

Bluetooth is a technology used to transmit information between devices such as computers, mobile phones and accessories like headsets.

Nokia launched three new Bluetooth headsets at a trade show in Las Vegas on Wednesday, saying it expected them to be in the shops during the first half of this year and to retail for $55 to $140, excluding taxes.

Nokia is the top player in the Bluetooth add-ons market, estimated to be worth a few billion euros annually, with the biggest independent players including U.S. firm Plantronics Inc. and Denmark's GN Store Nord's Jabra unit.