LONDON-Worldwide sales of wireless local area network switch ports jumped 52 percent to 170,000 in the first half, according to Infonetics Research’s quarterly report, “Wireless LAN Equipment.” The report said WLAN switch ports revenue grew 55 percent to $80.8 million between the first and second quarters of 2005, and revenue is expected to top $735 million by 2008.
The overall WLAN equipment market is holding steady, with worldwide revenue dipping 1 percent to $733 million between the first and second quarters of 2005 and unit shipments increasing 7 percent during the same period. Annual revenue is expected to increase to $4.1 billion in 2008 as WLANs continue to gain traction across all regions.
“Product innovation continues amongst wireless LAN switches,” said Richard Webb, directing analyst at Infonetics. Research. “Some vendors proclaim the security or RF capabilities of their product, while others focus on VoIP/QoS support or network management tools. Customers now have a genuine choice of products and architectures, a sign of a maturing segment.”
The report said Cisco Inc. leads in overall WLAN equipment revenue share, following its fourth consecutive quarter of revenues that brought in more than $100 million. Cisco-Linksys is second, D-Link is third and Netgear came in fourth.
Sales of access points account for 67 percent of WLAN equipment revenue, while network interface cards account for 16 percent, and WLAN infrastructure products account for 17 percent.
North America accounts for 49 percent of WLAN equipment revenue; Europe, the Middle East and Africa account for 26 percent; Asia Pacific accounts for 22 percent; and the Caribbean and Latin America account for 3 percent.
