Worldwide Wi-Fi / WLAN hardware revenue hit $696.4 million in 1Q04


Stellar Quarter for Wireless LAN Switch Vendors


LONDON, UK, -/May 24, 2004 Wi-Fi Technology News/-Worldwide wireless LAN hardware revenue hit $696.4 million in 1Q04, up 2% from 4Q03, and will grow 2% to $713.6 million by 1Q05, according to Infonetics Research's quarterly worldwide market share and forecast service, Wireless LAN Hardware.

Revenue growth over the next year will be slow due to eroded ASPs resulting from increased vendor competition. Overall unit growth will also be slow and steady in the single digits over the next four quarters. Revenue is projected to top $3 billion in 2007.

While the overall wireless LAN hardware market held relatively steady from the previous quarter, wireless LAN switch ports had a stellar first quarter of the year: Ports grew 158% and revenue grew 121%. Healthy double-digit quarterly growth will continue through 2004 and double-digit annual growth is expected through 2007.

"This was a strong quarter for wireless LAN switch vendors, with the segment showing healthy port and revenue growth; the start-ups in particular are gaining traction and have been pulling in some notable customers wins, not just in the US, but in Europe and Asia too," said Richard Webb, directing analyst at Infonetics and lead author of the report. "In addition, Cisco's recent SWAN announcement further validates the wireless LAN switch concept, and will help boost sales."

1Q04 Report Highlights

Linksys claims overall number-one for worldwide total wireless LAN hardware revenue following a very strong quarter
D-Link is in second place, up a notch from 4Q03
NETGEAR is third, but second place for wireless gateway revenue
Cisco maintains fourth position following its best quarter of wireless LAN sales to date
North America claims the largest share of WLAN hardware revenue, EMEA is next, then Asia Pacific, followed by CALA
SOHO/consumers made up 60% of WLAN hardware revenue, and service providers/enterprises made up 40%; the enterprise proportion will increase as enterprise-class switching and security systems drive adoption in this market

Wireless LAN Hardware tracks access points (standalone, wireless broadband gateways, bridges), switches, aggregation devices, security gateways, NICs, and embedded NICs. Standalone access points, indoor bridges, and the wireless LAN hardware revenue total are broken out by SOHO/consumer vs. service provider/enterprise.

Forecasts and market share are updated quarterly and cover all regions (worldwide, North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, CALA). Companies tracked include 2Wire, 3Com, Airespace, Ambit, Aruba Networks, Avaya, Belkin, Bluesocket, Buffalo Technology, Cisco, Colubris, D-Link, Ericsson, Foundry, Gemtek Systems, HP, Intel, Linksys, Meru Networks, Motorola, NETGEAR, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Proxim, Samsung, SMC, Symbol, Trapeze Networks, US Robotics, ZyXEL, and others.

For the table of contents, log on to Infonetics Research's Information Portal and download it at http://www.info.infonetics.com or contact Larry Howard, vice president, at larry@infonetics.com, 408.298.7999 x225.

Infonetics Research (http://www.infonetics.com) is an international market research and consulting firm covering the data networking and telecommunications industries in North America, Europe, and Asia. Infonetics helps companies develop, market, and sell products and services by providing objective analysis of end-users, service providers, and product manufacturers. Infonetics has offices in Silicon Valley, the Boston Metro Area, and London.