[May 28, 2015] |
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Worldwide WLAN Market Shows Slowed Growth in First Quarter of 2015, According to IDC
The combined consumer and enterprise worldwide wireless local area
network (WLAN) market segments increased 0.6% year over year in the
first quarter of 2015 (1Q15). According to preliminary results published
in the International Data Corporation (IDC)
Worldwide
Quarterly WLAN Tracker, the enterprise segment's growth slowed
significantly compared to preceding quarters, increasing just 3.0% over
the same period last year. After several quarters of high single-digit
growth rates, the enterprise WLAN market growth rate fell to the lowest
growth level seen in years due to the confluence of two factors:
education revenues in the US that are likely delayed due to the pending
release of E-rate funding for K-12 public schools and general softness
in the public sector and in Asia/Pacific during the first quarter of the
year.
The 802.11ac standard continues on its path toward becoming the
prevailing WLAN standard. After seven full quarters of product
availability, the 802.11ac standard already accounts for just over 40%
of dependent access point unit shipments and 55% of dependent access
point revenues, representing a noticeably faster adoption rate then what
we saw with the 802.11a/b/g to 802.11n transition several years ago. As
Wave 2 802.11ac products emerge in the marketplace during the second
half of 2015, IDC (News - Alert) expects 802.11ac to become the predominant standard
worldwide, both in terms of shipments and revenues, by 2016. Increased
demand on enterprise WLANs continues to be a driving factor in this
transition.
The consumer WLAN market decreased -2.0% year over year in 1Q15,
reversing a trend of moderate year-over-year growth over the last
several quarters. The ongoing transition from the older 802.11n standard
to the newer and faster 802.11ac standard has been the driver for this
segment. Worldwide consumer 802.11ac WLAN revenues grew 143.0% year over
year, but only increased 2.1% sequentially, which could not offset the
declines in consumer class 802.11n revenues (down -21.7% year-over-year
and -14.9% quarter-over-quarter).
"From education to healthcare to large enterprise, the increasing
preference for wireless network access will continue to be seen,
especially as emerging Wave 2 802.11ac will enable more applications to
move to wireless," said Nolan
Greene, Research Analyst, Network
Infrastructure, at IDC. "While seasonality and the future release of
E-rate funding slowed growth in the first quarter of 2015, we expect
802.11ac's momentum to once again boost the market in subsequent
quarters."
From a geographic perspective, the enterprise WLAN market once again saw
above-market growth rates in Latin America with its noteworthy 33.7%
year-over-year growth in 1Q15. The Europe, Middle East, and Africa
(EMEA) region is seeing its fourth consecutive quarter of solid growth,
growing 11.5% year over year. Canada once again saw growth above the
worldwide markt at 7.4% year over year. The Asia/Pacific enterprise
WLAN market saw moderate growth, increasing 1.9% year over year. The
United States, which was impacted significantly by the public K-12
segment of the education market delaying WLAN spending due to expected
2Q15 E-Rate funding, declined -5.4% when compared to 1Q14.
"Many of the regions saw healthy growth in the first quarter as 802.11ac
deployments increased and organizations worldwide are becoming more
dependent upon enterprise WLANs," said Petr
Jirovský, Research Manager, Worldwide Networking Trackers. "However,
weakness in the US due to postponed projects and seasonal softness had a
material impact on the overall worldwide growth rate."
Key Enterprise WLAN Vendor Updates
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Cisco's (News - Alert) 1Q15 worldwide enterprise WLAN revenue was once again
comparable to the overall market, growing 2.4% year over year, despite
declining -16.0% quarter over quarter. Cisco's worldwide market share
fell slightly to 47.8% in 1Q15, down from the more than 48% share seen
in the last two quarters and in 1Q14. IDC believes that the Meraki
cloud-managed WLAN portfolio remains one of the primary growth drivers
for Cisco.
-
Aruba (excluding its OEM business) was a major bright spot in a
weakened 1Q15, increasing 20.1% year over year and 0.8% sequentially.
Aruba's market share jumped to 14.0% compared to 11.8% in 4Q14 and
12.0% in 1Q14.
-
Ruckus performed better than the market in 1Q15, growing 7.2% year
over year, while dropping 5.0% quarter over quarter. Ruckus currently
accounts for 6.9% of the overall market, up from 6.6% in 1Q14.
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HP Networking continued to struggle as it declined 15.5% year over
year and 28.2% sequentially in 1Q15. Customer uncertainty around HP
WLAN given the Aruba acquisition may be playing into this decline.
HP's market share stands at 3.6% compared to 4.4% for 1Q14.
A interactive graphic showing the quarterly revenues of the top 5
vendors in the worldwide enterprise WLAN market for 1Q15 is available here.
Instructions on how to embed this graphic into online news articles and
social media can be found by viewing this
press release on IDC.com.
The IDC Worldwide Quarterly WLAN Tracker provides total market size and
vendors share data in an easy-to-use Excel Pivot Table format. The
geographic coverage includes 8 major regions (USA, Canada, Latin
America, AP excluding Japan, Japan, Western Europe, Central and Eastern
Europe, Middle East and Africa) and 58 countries. The WLAN market is
further segmented by product class, product type, product, standard, and
location. Measurement for the WLAN market is provided in factory
revenue, customer revenue, and unit shipments.
For more information about IDC's Worldwide Quarterly WLAN Tracker,
please contact Kathy Nagamine ([email protected]).
About IDC Trackers
IDC
Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size, vendor
share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than
100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research
processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, and
monthly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly
excel deliverables and on-line query tools. The IDC Tracker Charts app
allows users to view data charts from the most recent IDC Tracker
products on their iPhone
and iPad.
The IDC Tracker Chart app is also available for Android
Phones and Android
Tablets.
About IDC
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of
market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information
technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With
more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and
local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in
over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals,
business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based
technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives.
Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of IDG,
the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. To
learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com.
Follow IDC on Twitter (News - Alert) at @IDC.
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of their respective holders.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150528005778/en/
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