[March 15, 2009] ABI Research: Wi-Fi Access Point Shipments to Exceed 70 Million by 2010 Tweet Mar 14, 2009 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- The global WLAN market has grown tremendously in recent years and Wi-Fi in particular has been successful because of its ease of deployment in both consumer and enterprise environments: it is neater to deploy wireless than run cables throughout the home, and Wi-Fi is much cheaper to deploy than wired networks in the business space, reports ABI Research in an update to its Wi-Fi Equipment Market Data. ? The group further reported that global access point shipments are forecast to exceed 70 million by 2010, of which an overwhelming 90 percent will be generated by the SOHO and consumer markets. ? For now, the high-end WLAN equipment market is dominated by vertical segments such as higher education and healthcare. While 802.11a/g is obviously the most favored technology at the moment with about 84 percent market share, enterprises have been switching to the draft 2.0 802.11n technology for greater speed. This requirement for speed has inadvertently created more room for innovation in the enterprise market. ? Consumer electronics are also being transformed by networking technology. Demand for connectivity between mainstream electronic devices in the home including TVs, gaming consoles and laptops drives the need for Wi-Fi networking. And 802.11g products are still ahead of the game here, accounting for more than eight in ten SOHO/ consumer access point shipments. However, "g" will soon be supplanted by the much faster 802.11n, especially when economies of scale push prices down to more affordable general consumer levels. ? ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) ? ? ? ? [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]