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15th January 2004 - The wireless home has become
a reality, with the Wi-Fi hardware market achieving
staggering growth in 2003, according to In-Stat/MDR.
The high-tech market research firm expects that
22.7 million NIC and AP units rolled out in 2003,
a 214% increase from 2002’s 7.2 million unit shipments.
The primary market drivers for 2003 were the availability
of 802.11g products, and consequently the very
cheap prices for 802.11b equipment. Notebooks
with embedded Wi-Fi were also a driver on the
client side within the home, as Dell, HP, Toshiba,
Fujitsu and Acer pushed out notebooks with embedded
802.11b and 802.11g at retail, through catalogs,
and on-line. Most of these notebooks included
embedded Wi-Fi for no extra cost.
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However, rapid price erosion is still a critical factor
in revenue growth within this market, but the high volumes
are allowing for revenue growth, even as prices fall
fast. Wi-Fi hardware revenues are expected to reach
$1.7 billion for 2003, an increase of 140% from 2002
total revenues of $700 million.
The year 2003 was also the banner year for the first
real introduction of Wireless Media Connections, i.e.
Wi-Fi embedded into devices that bridge the gap between
the PC cluster and the entertainment cluster, within
the home. First generation 802.11b wireless media adapters
rolled out from the likes of Linksys and HP, and PrismIQ
rolled out support for higher speed 802.11g in its entertainment
gateway. In-Stat/MDR expects that many low-cost home
networking specialists will roll out 802.11g wireless
media adapters with a focus on media streaming, in 2004.
In-Stat/MDR also reports that:
- In the Wi-Fi IC space, Broadcom and Atheros emerged
as market leaders in the 802.11g and 802.11g/a segments,
while Intel’s Centrino mobile platform was embraced
by an increasing number of consumers choosing to purchase
laptops. GlobespanVirata acquired Intersil’s
WLAN division. Agere focused on wireless consumer
applications and the development of its a/g solution.
- Both 802.11b and 802.11g enjoyed rapid growth in
the home in 2003. However, 802.11g shipments are expected
to overtake 802.11b shipments in 2004, as 802.11g
prices begin to fall fast, themselves at the mercy
of falling dual-band a/g prices.
- The most notable geographic movement in 2003 was
Europe’s growth, as it moved from 9% of total
Wi-Fi home shipments in 2002, to 15%. Much of this
growth in Wi-Fi is tied to Europe’s dramatic
increase in home broadband subscribers in late 2002
and throughout 2003.
This Market Alert is drawn from the In-Stat/MDR report,
"Joe
Schmo Has Wi-Fi: The Wireless Home Becomes a Reality",
which includes an overview of the Wi-Fi home equipment
market, including 5-year forecasts of Wi-Fi NICs and
Access Points, by technology and form factor. Wi-Fi
home client forecasts are broken down by specific form
factor, including PCMCIA, PCI, USB, mini-PCI, SD, CF,
and other embedded modules. AP forecasts are broken
down into Residential Gateways, standard APs, and Wireless
Routers. Separate forecasts are provided for Wi-Fi Media
Connections, i.e. those Wi-Fi –enabled products
that fall into the consumer entertainment space.
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