Demand for Wi-Fi connectivity continues to rise with access point shipments up 14% year-over-year in 3Q14 according to market research firm Infonetics Research.
Data from its third quarter 2014 Wireless LAN Equipment and Wi-Fi Phones report (which tracks enterprise access points, wireless LAN controllers and Wi-Fi phones) show the global wireless LAN equipment market improved in 3Q14, growing 5% sequentially to $1.3bn.
"After a weak first half of the year wireless LAN sales improved in 3Q14 thanks to higher demand from government and enterprise customers.
"Revenue growth is once again accelerating-and even outpacing-access point shipments, a sign that vendors were able to sustain pricing and shift the product mix to higher-priced equipment such as 802.11ac access points, which now account for almost a quarter of all shipments," said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research.
Interactive access points are the top-performing WLAN segment in 3Q14 - 802.11ac access point penetration is up almost 10-fold over the past year, with almost 1 million units shipped in 3Q14.
Aruba and Ruckus notched the highest growth of all WLAN equipment vendors in Q3 while Wi-Fi phone shipments are reversing course from a great 2013 due to weakness in the healthcare vertical and continuing weak demand for enterprise phone systems.