Market Outlook
Market Outlook
(Updated Febuary 19, 2026)
Bittium’s customers operate in various industries, each having its own industry-specific factors driving the demand. A common factor creating demand among the whole customer base is the growing need for higher quality and secure data transfer. Due to the technology competencies accrued over time and the long history of developing mobile communication solutions, Bittium is in a good position to offer customized connectivity solutions to its customers. Over thirty years of experience and extensive competence in measuring biosignals also act as a basis for medical technology solutions.
Bittium has identified several business, market, and finance-related risk factors and uncertainties that can affect the level of sales and profits. The global geopolitical instability has caused various risks related to demand and supply and increased uncertainty.
Read more information about risks and uncertainties here.
Defense & Security
Development of the Business and Market Outlook January-December 2025
The Defense & Security Business Segment saw significant growth in 2025 for the second year in a row. The company’s R&D investments have enabled technological leadership, and efforts to accelerate international growth are starting to be reflected in business results and a strengthened market position.
Uncertainty and changes in the global political situation have led to increased defense budgets, which has affected the demand for defense industry products and services. Previously very long sales cycles have shortened, resulting from the increased defense funds. The defense forces of several countries have begun preparations to modernize their command and control systems to meet the demands of future warfare. Currently, Bittium is in active discussions with more than ten different countries about various tactical communication modernization needs. Some countries are considering modernizing their defense forces’ entire command and control system, while others plan to replace old-technology analog tactical radios with modern IP-based radios. The potential of the projects varies from a few tens of millions to several hundred million euros.
Cooperation with long-term customers has continued to be strong. Key customer Finnish Defence Forces continues to expand the deployment of both the tactical backbone network and tactical radios and waveforms according to their plans. Bittium and the Finnish Defence Forces also have several joint development projects ongoing to strengthen the future defense capacity, adding more capabilities to the needs of defense. The Austrian customer continues to expand the tactical core network. The Croatian customer is expanding the use of radios to a wider geographical area, strengthening connections between land, sea and air forces. Other customer relationships and pilots, such as the piloting of Tough SDR radios by special forces of an European country, have also progressed well and Bittium’s products, including waveforms, have received a lot of good feedback on performance and technological leadership.
At the end of the year, Bittium signed a framework agreement in the field of command and control systems with the Finnish and Swedish defence forces. The agreement enables the Swedish defence forces to purchase and develop Bittium’s tactical communication systems, products and software-based radios, as well as secure software and mobile phones. The agreement is part of the so-called NORDEFCO defence cooperation between the Nordic countries. The agreement is a significant opening for Bittium towards Sweden, although the framework agreement does not automatically guarantee orders or bind them to placing them. Based on the completed agreement, any initial orders could be placed quickly and straightforwardly.
Negotiations with the Spanish Indra Group, which began in the summer, were concluded in December when the companies signed an agreement to license Bittium Tough SDR technology to Indra. At the same time, Bittium received its first order worth EUR 50 million. By licensing Bittium’s Tough SDR technology, Indra will manufacture sovereign, high-performance military, vehicle and backpack-mounted manpack radios, focusing primarily on the Spanish market, but with the possibility of expanding to other designated countries. In January, Bittium received a second order from Indra for the technology and production transfer projects related to the transfer of Bittium Tough SDR technology and customer-specific development work related to the technology. The value of the order was EUR 20 million. If the agreement signed in December is implemented as expected, the total value of the agreement for Bittium is estimated to be over EUR 120 million.
Bittium further strengthened its competitiveness by launching the new Bittium TAC WIN Smart Link 360™ functionality for the waveform used in its tactical networks and radios. Smart Link 360 is the world’s first solution with adaptive and fully automated directional antenna functionality that further enhances extreme protection against interference and significantly improves performance for battlefield broadband tactical communications.
The development of the ESSOR waveform continued as part of the a4ESSOR joint venture when a4ESSOR and OCCAR signed a new procurement contract for the next phase of ESSOR technology development. The contract covers the development of capabilities for the ESSOR High Data Rate Waveform (EHDRWF), which can be adapted to national software radios.
During the review period, Bittium expanded the use of its secure mobile communications software solutions to iOS users. Previously, Bittium SafeMove Mobile VPN and Bittium Secure Call enabled encryption of data connections and end-to-end encrypted voice and video calls and messages only for Android and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
In the fall, Bittium decided to expand its security phone product family with a new 5G phone and announced the new secure Bittium Tough Mobile 3. The constantly increasing number of cyber attacks and the high computing power enabled by quantum computers have increased the need to develop even stronger, quantum secure mobile security, which the company intends to focus on in accordance with its strategy. The new Tough Mobile 3 will use a third-party platform designed for security use. Bittium’s security software makes the Bittium Tough Mobile 3 the most secure phone on the market and it is estimated to be commercially available in 2027.
Bittium’s tactical product portfolio products are technically the most modern and the company has started to expand the tactical product portfolio roadmap and increased investments to expand new product features and usage options. In the autumn, Bittium and MarshallAI signed a cooperation agreement, through which the companies will jointly develop artificial intelligence-based additional services for Bittium’s product families. In accordance with the cooperation agreement, Bittium licenses the artificial intelligence tool developed by MarshallAI, which will be used to develop new additional services in an agile manner and create business opportunities and customer value in Bittium’s customer field.
Bittium will focus strongly on product commercialization and distribution channel development, as well as increasing cooperation with other players in the industry. Bittium’s IP-based reliable communication architecture provides continuous situational awareness for the command and control of armed forces, strengthening European sovereignty.
Medical
Development of the Business and Market Outlook January-December 2025
Strategically, 2025 was an important year for the Medical business segment. The business was focused on the Cardiac and Sleep product families, which enables more efficient allocation of resources. Product development is guided by market and regulatory priorities with the aim of accelerating the market entry of commercially significant products. The organizational reform carried out in the summer clarified the segment’s structure, roles and responsibilities. Strong ownership and accountability were increased to strengthen profitability and rebuild international growth.
The remote diagnostics market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, as diagnostics need to be performed at an increasingly earlier stage and in home conditions instead of in a hospital environment. Reducing hospital and treatment days increases the efficiency of healthcare processes and reduces costs. A prerequisite for remote diagnostics is the ability to perform accurate and high-quality measurements in home conditions. In the remote ECG diagnostics market, Bittium’s competitive advantage is based on high-quality and reliable biosignal measurement using embedded wireless technology.
In the area of ECG measurement devices, the cooperation with strategic key customer Boston Scientific continued to be strong. According to the agreement signed in the summer, Bittium will continue to supply ECG devices for measuring cardiac arrhythmias to Boston Scientific. The companies will also continue to cooperate in the development of customized ECG technologies. This partnership has provided Bittium with significant support for the development of a new product generation alongside the Faros ECG measurement device, strengthening the segment’s long-term growth potential.
The prevalence of sleep apnea has increased rapidly in the recent decades, and nearly one billion people already suffer from sleep apnea. The home monitoring market for sleep apnea has developed since the late 2000s, and awareness of the severity of the disease has increased significantly. The disease is underdiagnosed internationally and many suffer from it without knowing it. The prevalence of sleep apnea is significant among overweight adults and the elderly population, with more than half of the elderly and up to 70 percent of the overweight suffering from sleep apnea.
Bittium’s home sleep apnea diagnostic device, Bittium Respiro HSAT (Home Sleep Apnea Testing), offers an easy and patient-friendly way to verify sleep apnea at home. The device has a medical device approval in accordance with the European MDR requirement. The long-term potential of the Sleep product family has been strengthened by the results of pilots in different countries. Reimbursement, regulation and bidding practices vary significantly by market, which will guide the development of the segment’s commercialization strategy in the coming years. Commercial success also requires product development and regulatory work.
2026 will be a year of commercialization and strategic partnership building for the Medical Business Segment. The Cardiac product family will be further enhanced through new product development projects and launches, taking into account regulatory and reimbursement requirements of different countries. The goal is to improve efficiency and support international growth in the long term.
Engineering Services
Development of the Business and Market Outlook January-December 2025
During 2025, the Engineering Services Business Segment focused on renewing its offering. The launch of the Embedded AI offering was an important step in Bittium’s growth strategy. It combines expertise, technology and partnerships that enable Bittium and its customers to leverage intelligent, business-driven solutions that set the direction for the next generation of innovation. As part of this, Bittium entered into a collaboration with US-based company Edge Impulse, a part of Qualcomm. Edge Impulse’s industry-leading Edge AI tool chain simplifies data creation, model training and on-device deployment.
The need for EU countries to strengthen their common defense has also increased new business opportunities in the Engineering Services Business Segment. Demand has grown for a wide range of products and solutions manufactured in Europe and NATO member states, and Engineering Services sales have been focused on the defense market during the last quarter.
The satellite market exploration has continued well, driven by the ongoing cooperation customer Terrestar Canada. The Terrestar Canada satellite companion product project progressed well in the second half of the year, based on modern 5G NTN technology. A new customer was opened in the mobile equipment segment.
This year, investments in the defense market will be increased, utilizing partners to supplement the offering. The goal is to continue renewing the offering and, strengthening embedded AI solutions, as well as ensuring the prerequisites for growth in new and existing customer segments.