Wifi Revolution

The worldwide WiFi (News - Alert) access point shipments exceeded 18 million in the second quarter (2Q) 2010, according to ABI Research report entitled, “WiFi Equipment Market Data.”

The report observes that the demand for WiFi equipment is growing rapidly as there is an increase in the adoption of wireless network infrastructure around the world. The shipments include wireless routers, access points and gateways in both consumer and enterprise markets.

Moreover, the worldwide WiFi access point shipments in the second quarter of 2010 grew six percent compared to the first quarter, according to ABI’s recent report. In both enterprise and consumer market segments the total shipment volumes were strong.

“In both consumer and enterprise sectors, demand for 802.11n product is growing rapidly. In the second quarter, 802.11n products were the key drivers of WiFi equipment market growth,” said Philip Solis, research director at ABI Research (News - Alert), in a press release.

In the second quarter, a total of 5.9 million of 802.11n devices were shipped. The report states that this represents a 15 percent increase over the first quarter. As a result of the increase interest in upgrading from 802.11a/g to 802.11n technology, the deployment of 802.11n products is expected to accelerate even further in coming years.

Currently, D-Link leads in the consumer access point market with a 19 percent share, and Netgear (News - Alert) and Linksys are positioned second and third for access points in SOHO/Consumer markets.

In the enterprise market segment, Cisco maintains the largest market share, 54 percent, and Aruba networks is the second-largest player with 13 percent market share..

“Due to increasing competition between manufacturers aiming to provide better and more cost-effective solutions, the average selling price of these devices is expected to fall still further,” said Khin Sandi Lynn, research associate at ABI Research.

Recently, ABI Research published the results of the study on shipments and revenue for each category, “Charging Technologies for Portable Devices.”