Sierra Wireless (News - Alert), Inc. has expanded its market share for embedded modules and standalone wireless terminals, to become a leader in cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) communication devices.

 

Building on the acquisition of Wavecom (News - Alert) in March 2009, Sierra Wireless M2M communication devices including AirPrime Intelligent Embedded Modules and AirLink Intelligent Routers and Gateways, showed revenue growth throughout 2009 and is also showing growth in 2010. M2M product revenues totaled $221 million for the full year of 2009. In the first quarter of 2010, M2M product revenue increased to $88.7 million, tripling from the first quarter of 2009.

 

The integration of the Wavecom product portfolio, with significant product line expansion, has made Sierra Wireless a leading provider with the broadest product in the cellular M2M communication market. This includes 2G, 2.5G, 3G and 3.5G embedded modules for GSM and CDMA networks across a multitude of form factors, including BGA, LGA, castellation, PCI (News - Alert) Express MiniCard, and board-to-board connectors, as well as AirLink router, gateway and modem products.

 

'Before the acquisition, Sierra Wireless and Wavecom combined held the number two position in the market,' stated Yoko Kaneko, analyst with Techno Systems Research Co., Ltd.

 

'As the company has expanded in the past year, its combined revenue from embedded modules and standalone wireless gateways has made it the indisputable market leader in cellular M2M communication worldwide,' Kaneko adds.

 

For the development and deployment of large-scale M2M solutions and reducing time-to-market for customers, Sierra Wireless offers a set of M2M software and services. These include a comprehensive services platform and an embedded development environment and tool suite.

 

'We forecast strong market growth for cellular M2M devices over the next several years, as M2M continues to expand from traditional industrial applications to more consumer-facing devices, such as e-book readers and personal navigation devices,' commented Tobias Ryberg, senior analyst at Berg Insight.

 

'Sierra Wireless is well positioned in this environment with a strong presence in all major regions of the world and a diverse customer base across all vertical market segments,' Ryberg says.

 

'I am extremely pleased with the growth we have achieved since our acquisition of Wavecom last year,' said Jason Cohenour, president and CEO, Sierra Wireless.

 

Cohenour continued, 'The integration has been very successful, and the synergies created from our respective product portfolios and market positions are now producing tangible results. We believe that our strong cash position and the fact that we are debt-free is a considerable advantage in the cellular M2M market, where the financial stability of suppliers is important to customers whose development cycles are usually long and investments often significant. With our unmatched product portfolio, technology assets, truly global presence, great team and financial strength, we are in an excellent position to continue our expansion in this growing market.'