WLAN market booms as router sales stagnate

Wireless LAN growth topped 20 per cent last year, according to analyst

The wireless LAN market continues to leave sales of traditional networking kit for dead, figures from Infonetics Research indicate.

According to the market watcher, global WLAN sales bulged by more than 20 per cent to $4bn (£2.6bn) in 2012 as enterprises continued to bolster their wireless capabilities.

In contrast, the global router market fell three per cent to $3.5bn last year as buyers resorted to using low-end rather than mid-range routers at their branch offices. As recently as 2007 the router market was worth as much as $4.3bn.

The Ethernet switch market fared slightly better as revenue sidled up 4.7 per cent to $19.8bn in 2012, with the five biggest vendors – Dell, Cisco, HP, Brocade and Juniper – all enjoying revenue rises.

Infonetics noted that – a month before next-generation 802.11ac products are set to hit the market – 88 per cent of access points shipping today are based on 802.11n.

Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research, said: "WLAN continues to shine as enterprises build out their wireless capabilities to take advantage of new devices and ubiquitous connectivity."