Wifi Revolution

Recent market data released by ABI Research shows that Wi-Fi chipset vendors will ship one billion units in the year 2011 alone. Wi-Fi is becoming very popular and by the end of the following year a cumulative five billion such chipsets will have shipped since ABI began tracking Wi-Fi chipsets in 2000.

 

ABI’s “Wi-Fi IC Market Data” package shows that Wi-Fi chipset shipments will total over 100 million just for smartphones in 2009. The data also indicates that smartphones, netbooks, and many consumer electronics devices such as portable media players, TVs, and cameras will become increasingly important market segments.

 

According to research practice director Philip Solis, 802.11n will be the dominant protocol shipped during 2010. Also, it is all set to dominate the market as single stream 11n chipsets (those not employing MIMO technologies) are increasingly replacing 802.11g products.

 

Solis also noted that ASPs are falling, but the market is growing fast enough to keep revenues increasing.

 

ABI also notes popular vendors such as Broadcom and Qualcomm, which recently entered the market with a 4x4 MIMO 802.11n chipset.

 

Although Broadcom's (News - Alert) market share may fluctuate from quarter to quarter, the company continues to remain firmly on top of the Wi-Fi chipset market. Solis added that this vendor will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

 

 

 

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