* Sales of wireless LAN gear continue their rapid rise, firm says
Wireless LANs continue to grow in popularity and represent one of the bright spots in the entire market for IT equipment, as shown in a recent report by Synergy Research Group.
In the second quarter of this year, total sales of WLAN equipment were up 18% from the previous quarter and up 33% from the same period the previous year, at $563.5 million, SRG says. The new IEEE 802.11g standard and Wi-Fi Protected Access for security were instrumental in the growth, the firm says.
SRG also sees the market, now at about $2.3 billion a year, to keep blossoming at a compound annual growth rate of 21%.
Interestingly, the home networking market for WLAN equipment is growing by leaps and bounds. It represented 36% of the total WLAN market in the second quarter of 2001; now, it’s 63% of the market.
Linksys dominates the North America market for home wireless gear, with a 39% share. Cisco, meanwhile, dominates enterprise wireless everywhere, with a 40% share here in North America. Since Cisco closed its acquisition of Linksys in June, Cisco will now be top dog in WLANs for both areas.
SRG also watches the subsegment of WLAN phones. The idea of running voice over WLANs is still a relatively new one, with Symbol Technologies and Spectralink dominating. But the firm expects more competition to arise from 3Com, Cisco, Microsoft, Motorola, Telesym, and Vocera. Right now, this segment is relatively small; SRG predicts it will be at $20 million next year and $30 million by 2007.
