InStat Finds 2009 a Breakout Year for Latest WLAN Devices

By Doug Allen

Market intelligence consultancy In-Stat has released a report that finds 2009 was a breakout year for the latest Wi-Fi standard, 802.11n, the successor to 802.11g. Comparing the growth of the two technologies, In-Stat found 802.11n was the clear winner, with 76 percent growth year-over-year, in contrast to an annual decline of 14 percent for 802.11g.

The wireless LAN market continued to grow in 2009, despite the decline of the worldwide overall market, said Vahid Dejwakh, an In-Stat analyst.

The report, 4Q09 Wireless LAN Tracker, covers the two 802.11 variants, wireless network interface cards, standalone access points, Sand OHO routers and residential gateways across the world. Among its key findings: Global WLAN revenue rose 5.2 percent in 2009 over 2008, for a total of 68.5 million WLAN units shipped last year. Of those WLAN devices sold in Q4, North America was responsible for 46 percent. NETGEAR and D-Link became the market leaders in terms of WLAN devices shipped for the quarter, at 23 and 18 percent, respectively. And in the SOHO space, WLAN router revenues grew to $1.16 billion over the same period.

By way of contrast, the results for Q3 2009 were decidedly less upbeat, despite worldwide revenue gains of 8.9 percent quarter-over-quarter for a total of $1.0 billion, up from $929.2 million in Q2. But overall revenue and shipments were down by 8.7 percent and 8.3 percent respectively, year over year.