Ceva, Inc. retained the top spot in wireless interface IP in IPnest's September 2026 Design IP report, holding roughly 68% market share by revenue. That is twelve times the share of the next-largest vendor, in a category that grew about 14% in 2025. The company says its wireless IP is used in about 30% of Bluetooth-enabled IoT devices and 15% of Wi-Fi-enabled IoT devices annually, giving a sense of scale beyond the IP revenue number alone.
The ranking landed in a November 2 announcement from the company's headquarters in Hsinchu County, Taiwan. Ceva licenses silicon and software IP that powers the Smart Edge, and its wireless portfolio connects AI-enabled devices across consumer, automotive, industrial, PC and IoT markets.
The stakes are plain. As AI moves from the cloud into billions of connected devices, those devices still have to talk to each other, to networks, and to the cloud. Reliable, ultra-low-power wireless connectivity is what makes that possible, and the IP that underpins it is concentrated in one vendor's hands.
A Market Share That Has Barely Moved
IPnest's numbers show a market that is stable at the top. Ceva held 67% share for 2023, 68% for 2024, and roughly 68% again for 2025. The category itself grew about 14% last year, so a flat share still means growing revenue.
Ceva estimates its wireless connectivity IP sits inside about 30% of the world's Bluetooth-enabled IoT devices and 15% of Wi-Fi-enabled IoT devices shipped each year. Those figures are the company's own, not IPnest's, and they measure how deeply its IP has penetrated the end-device market rather than the licensing market.
The gap between 68% of IP revenue and 30% of Bluetooth devices is worth a moment's thought. It suggests Ceva's licensees are not the largest chipmakers by volume, or that many devices ship on older or competing IP. Either way, the concentration at the IP layer is real even if the device layer is more fragmented.
What Ceva Actually Licenses
Through its Ceva-Waves portfolio, Ceva licenses Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, UWB, 802.15.4 and cellular IoT IP to semiconductor companies and OEMs building differentiated products. Its Bluetooth IP has more than 100 licensees, its Wi-Fi IP more than 60, and more than 30 customers have adopted both.
The company is not standing still on the standards. It is advancing Bluetooth High Data Throughput (HDT), developing Wi-Fi 8, and broadening its connectivity portfolio with PentaG-Edge, a 5G-Advanced modem IP subsystem for edge devices. These investments target the next generation of intelligent, connected products across consumer electronics, automotive, industrial, PC and IoT applications.
Wireless IP is one pillar of Ceva's Connect, Sense, and Infer strategy. Combined with its sensing IP and NeuPro NPUs, it gives chipmakers system-level IP for what Ceva calls Physical AI, where the right AI model runs in the right place at the right time. Local inference handles latency- and power-sensitive work, while connectivity links each device to its peers and the cloud.
The Broader Context for IoT Builders
The IoT device count keeps climbing. Industry estimates put cellular-connected IoT devices above 5.7 billion in 2026, and smart home users are expected to reach 785 million globally by 2028. Every one of those devices needs a radio, and most of those radios trace back to licensed IP rather than in-house design.
That is the environment in which Ceva's 68% share matters. When a startup or mid-size OEM wants to ship a connected product, it rarely designs its own Bluetooth or Wi-Fi silicon. It buys a chip from a semiconductor company that licensed the radio IP, often from Ceva. The licensing decision made years earlier shapes which products exist at all.
Ceva's reach extends well beyond the IoT label. The company says more than 22 billion devices have shipped on its IP, trusted by over 400 customers worldwide. That footprint spans AI-infused wearables, IoT devices, autonomous vehicles and 5G infrastructure, which means its connectivity IP is as likely to sit inside a car's infotainment module as a smart thermostat.
The shift toward edge AI raises the bar for that connectivity. A device that runs inference locally still needs to send summaries, receive model updates, and coordinate with peers. Low-power radios that can wake quickly and move small bursts of data become more valuable, not less, as on-device AI spreads.
Why This Matters for Device Makers
For a chipmaker or OEM, licensing wireless IP instead of building it from scratch is the difference between shipping in 18 months and shipping in three years. Ceva's multi-standard portfolio means one vendor can cover Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular IoT for a product line, which simplifies qualification and support.
Ziv Hammer, Executive Vice President of Ceva's Connectivity & Sensing Division, framed the shift in experience terms. "AI is becoming an experience that follows people from one device to the next," he said. "Each of those devices needs to exchange data and context, perceive its surroundings, and interpret what it perceives locally."
That quote is the honest version of the marketing line. Devices do need to exchange context, and that requires connectivity. Whether Ceva's IP is the right fit for any given product depends on cost, power budget and standards support, none of which the IPnest report measures.
The Open Question
A 68% share in a 14%-growing market is a strong position, but it is not the same as a moat. Competitors can still win design slots on cost or on a specific standard, and the report measures IP revenue, not design wins or silicon shipments.
Ceva will share its wireless connectivity and Physical AI roadmap at technology symposiums in Hsinchu, Taiwan on November 2 and in Shanghai, China on November 5. The company's Ceva-Waves wireless connectivity IP details are at https://www.ceva-ip.com/product/ceva-waves-links/.
For anyone building connected products, the practical takeaway is to watch which standards Ceva prioritizes next. Bluetooth HDT and Wi-Fi 8 are the bets on the table, and the customers who license early usually ship first.
Market share and vendor comparison are based on wireless interface IP revenue estimates in IPnest's September 2026 Design IP report, as cited by Ceva. See also Reuters coverage of semiconductor IP and our IoT category page.