Worldwide wireless LAN switch ports jumped 52% to 170,000, and revenue grew 55% to $80.8 million between the first and second quarters of 2005 and is expected to top $735 million by 2008, according to Infonetics Research’s quarterly report, Wireless LAN Equipment.
The overall WLAN equipment market is holding steady, with worldwide revenue dipping 1% to $733 million between 1Q05 and 2Q05, and unit shipments increasing 7%. Annual revenue is expected to increase to $4.1 billion in 2008 as WLANs continue to gain traction across all regions.
“Product innovation continues amongst wireless LAN switches,” said Richard Webb, directing analyst at Infonetics Research. “Some vendors proclaim the security or RF capabilities of their product, while others focus on VoIP/QoS support or network management tools. Customers now have a genuine choice of products and architectures, a sign of a maturing segment.”
2Q05 Market Highlights
Cisco leads in overall WLAN equipment revenue share, following its fourth consecutive $100-million-plus quarter
Cisco-Linksys is second, ahead of D-Link in third and NETGEAR in 4th
Access points account for 67% of WLAN equipment revenue, NICs for 16%, and WLAN infrastructure products for 17%
SOHOs/consumers make up 43% of WLAN equipment revenue, declining from 51% in 1Q05; service providers/enterprises make up 57%
North America accounts for 49% of WLAN equipment revenue, EMEA 26%, Asia Pacific 22%, CALA 3%
The Wireless LAN Equipment report tracks access points, wireless LAN infrastructure (switches, gateways, controllers, appliances, mesh network access nodes), and NICs. Units and revenue are broken out by SOHO/consumer vs. service provider/enterprise.
Forecasts and market share are updated quarterly and cover worldwide, North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, and CALA. Companies tracked include 3Com, Ambit, Aruba Networks, Belkin, Bluesocket, Buffalo, Cisco, Cisco-Linksys, Colubris, D-Link, Meru Networks, NETGEAR, Nortel Networks, Proxim, Symbol, Trapeze Networks, US Robotics, ZyXEL, and others.
