LONDON-The worldwide equipment business for Wi-Fi enjoyed traction last year in revenue and unit sales, according to a new report from Infonetics Research.
Global revenue stood at $2.8 billion for 2004, a 15-percent jump from 2003. Unit sales leaped 51 percent from the previous year to 36.1 million.
Infonetics expects unit shipments to continue to grow through 2008 when they will reach 80.4 million, 123-percent more than 2004.
However, quarterly results were not so robust. Worldwide revenue dropped 21 percent to $619.4 million between the third quarter of 2004 and the fourth quarter of the same year, according to Infonetics. The firm attributed the drop to plummeting ASPs from fierce vendor competition.
“In 2004, wireless LANs emerged from a niche technology to become part of the IT mainstream, as well as a complement to other networking and wireless technologies,” said Richard Webb, directing analyst at Infonetics and author of the report. “Competition has increased, driving prices down and spurring on further innovation in the market as wireless LANs continue to gain acceptance.”
