REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-The wireless LAN market will grow 23 percent in 2004 to $2.2 billion, with strong growth continuing through 2006, but its decline will begin in 2007, according to the Dell’Oro Group.
The Dell’Oro Group expects the decline in the market to occur as WLAN solutions become embedded features in other products. “Specifically, we expect that WLAN will increasingly become a feature of cable modem and DSL client premises equipment, which will reduce the need for consumers to purchase a stand-alone broadband gateway or access point for their home,” Greg Collins, senior director, Dell’Oro Group. “In addition, WLAN is increasingly becoming a standard feature of notebook computers, which greatly diminishes the need for users to purchase an add-on NIC card for their notebook computer.”
Meanwhile, the research group expects the enterprise WLAN market to thrive as enterprises embrace WLAN technology. Dell’Oro forecasts the enterprise WLAN market will grow 20 percent per year to reach $1 billion by 2008.
