WLAN sales continue overall growth trajectory
Wireless LAN (WLAN) equipment sales totalled $1.2bn worldwide in the first quarter of 2016 (Q1 2016), declining 14% sequentially due to seasonal demand factors, but continuing on an overall growth trajectory.
On a year-over-year basis, revenue is up 5%, slightly ahead of 2015’s 4% growth rate, says IHS Technology analysis in its WLAN Equipment and WiFi Phone Quarterly Market Tracker, which includes data for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.
Among the good news is further acceleration in access point shipment growth, which stands at 20% year-over-year in Q1 2016, with a total of 4.7 million access points shipped.
On the other hand, average selling prices have not materially increased despite good adoption of 802.11ac and Wave 2 products — the latter standing at 3% of all units shipped in Q1 2016. Demand for WLAN is strong, but monetizing that demand has been a challenge for the last two years as organizations chose lower-cost approaches.
The outlook for the WLAN market remains bright, as infrastructure investments over the long term shift to WLAN equipment to support the rapid rise of wireless devices, both personal and Internet of Things (IoT), as well as mobility requirements.
Commoditisation, however, is keeping a lid on independent access point revenue, which declined 8% in 2015 and was flat in Q1 2016 from the year-ago quarter (Q1 2015).
Over 70% of all access point revenue comes from 802.11ac products, and Wave 2 products broke through the 5% mark in Q1 and have started to cannibalise Wave 1 802.11ac gear.
The top year-over-year share gainers in the WLAN market in Q1 2016 are, in alphabetical order, Aerohive, Ruckus and Ubiquiti.Wireless LAN (WLAN) equipment sales totalled $1.2bn worldwide in the first quarter of 2016 (Q1 2016), declining 14% sequentially due to seasonal demand factors, but continuing on an overall growth trajectory.
On a year-over-year basis, revenue is up 5%, slightly ahead of 2015's 4% growth rate, says IHS Technology analysis in its WLAN Equipment and WiFi Phone Quarterly Market Tracker, which includes data for the quarter ended March 31, 2016.
Among the good news is further acceleration in access point shipment growth, which stands at 20% year-over-year in Q1 2016, with a total of 4.7 million access points shipped.
On the other hand, average selling prices have not materially increased despite good adoption of 802.11ac and Wave 2 products - the latter standing at 3% of all units shipped in Q1 2016. Demand for WLAN is strong, but monetizing that demand has been a challenge for the last two years as organizations chose lower-cost approaches.
The outlook for the WLAN market remains bright, as infrastructure investments over the long term shift to WLAN equipment to support the rapid rise of wireless devices, both personal and Internet of Things (IoT), as well as mobility requirements.
Commoditisation, however, is keeping a lid on independent access point revenue, which declined 8% in 2015 and was flat in Q1 2016 from the year-ago quarter (Q1 2015).
Over 70% of all access point revenue comes from 802.11ac products, and Wave 2 products broke through the 5% mark in Q1 and have started to cannibalise Wave 1 802.11ac gear.
The top year-over-year share gainers in the WLAN market in Q1 2016 are, in alphabetical order, Aerohive, Ruckus and Ubiquiti.