Infrared Shipments Pass The 1 Billion Mark

Infrared transceiver shipments increased by more than 297 million units in 2005 and are growing at an even faster rate this year, according to a report released Tuesday by the Infrared Data Association.

Total infrared transceiver shipments passed the 1 billion mark in recent months, driven primarily by shipments of mobile phones. The trade association said some 29% of the 810 million mobile phones shipped last year had infrared capability.

"Rich features including peer-to-peer MP3 file, digital image, and contact-information sharing have encouraged mobile phone suppliers to support IrDA communication," the association stated.

The IDA expects new mobile phones with more robust file-sharing rates will expand use of MP3, MPEG4, and other large data files, thereby spurring additional growth of infrared technology in mobile phones.