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Worldwide WLAN Market Continues to Show Solid Growth in Fourth Quarter of 2013, According to IDC
[February 26, 2014]

Worldwide WLAN Market Continues to Show Solid Growth in Fourth Quarter of 2013, According to IDC


FRAMINGHAM, Mass. --(Business Wire)--

The combined consumer and enterprise worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments increased 11.5% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2013 (4Q13). According to the preliminary results published in the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly WLAN Tracker, the enterprise segment continued to grow at a very healthy rate and increased 11.7% over the same period in 2012. While the pace of the enterprise WLAN market growth is starting to moderate from the 20%-plus year-over-year increases we have seen for several quarters, the enterprise WLAN market continues to be one of the fastest growing networking market segments. The consumer WLAN market also had an excellent quarter in 4Q13 and grew 11.2% year over year. The growth in the consumer WLAN space appears to be accelerating due to strong growth in the emerging markets and market transition from the older 802.11n standard to the newer and faster 802.11ac standard. For the full year 2013, the enterprise WLAN market increased 15.0% year over year and the consumer WLAN market jumped 11.0% year over year.

"Across all geographies and in most of the key verticals, the expansion of mobility applications for enterprise IT continues to drive new investments in WLAN infrastructure," said Rohit Mehra, Vice President, Network Infrastructure, at IDC (News - Alert). "While the growth rate has stabilized in recent quarters, new mobility applications, particularly for the education, retail, and healthcare verticals, along with expanded deployment options and the continued emergence of 802.11ac will lead to continued growth in the enterprise WLAN market."

From a geographic perspective, the enterprise WLAN market performed especially well in Latin America with its 37.2% year-over-year growth in 4Q13. Asia/Pacific increased 22.7% year over year and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region increased 20.1% in 4Q13. On the other hand, North America was relatively weak this quarter and was up just 0.7% year over year.

"Although revenues were flat in many ature economies in the fourth quarter, growth in enterprise WLAN deployments will remain strong in emerging markets and will regain momentum in developed markets in 2014," said Petr Jirovsky, Research Manager, Worldwide Networking Trackers.



Key Enterprise WLAN Vendor Updates

  • Cisco's (News - Alert) 4Q13 worldwide enterprise WLAN revenue grew 6.1% year over year and declined -2.5% on a sequential basis over the particularly strong 3Q13. Cisco was particularly impacted by the relative weakness in North America where revenue was down -11.4% quarter over quarter and -0.7% year over year. Cisco's worldwide market share stands at 48.4% in 4Q13, down from 52.2% in 3Q13 and 51.0% in 4Q12. Still, Cisco's full year 2013 results were solid as it grew 15.1% year over year, marginally exceeding the 15.0% year-over-year growth of the total market.
  • Aruba (excluding its OEM business) rebounded from a weaker 3Q13 quarter and grew 7.9% sequentially, which was good for a 3.5% year-over-year increase in 4Q13. Aruba's full year 2013 annual growth reached 5.1% and its market share now stands at 9.8% of the enterprise WLAN market, up from the 9.5% in 3Q13.
  • Ruckus grew a solid 20.8% year over year in 4Q13 and now accounts for 5.7% of the overall market.
  • HP 4Q13 revenue increased 18.1% year over year but declined -2.4% sequentially. HP's full year 2013 enterprise WLAN growth was 13.1%.

A interactive graphic showing the revenues of the top 5 vendors in the worldwide enterprise WLAN market for the previous five quarters is available at 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 eight major regions (the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia/Pacific (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.

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. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,000 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. In 2014, IDC celebrates its 50th anniversary of providing strategic insights to help clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and events company. You can learn more about IDC by visiting www.idc.com.

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