Wireless LANs: Growing, But Slowing Down
Based on a report from Synergy Research Group, wireless LAN equipment sales will grow at a brisk pace over the next five years, but the sales increases won't be anywhere near the blistering pace of 2001.
That's one of the big conclusions in a wireless LAN forecast issued by Synergy Research Group Inc.
Between this year and 2006, the compound annual growth rate for sales of wireless LAN products to enterprises will be 21.3 percent, Synergy found; it's a strong number but nowhere near the 66.7 percent growth of 2001.
In the remarkably fast-growing small office-home office wireless space, compound annual growth will be 39.8 percent between now and 2006. That figure still pales in comparison to the 600-plus percent growth of 2001. The overall market-including enterprise and small office-will grow at a compound annual rate of 30.3 percent.
In 2002, enterprise wireless LAN sales will grow 32 percent, to $1.1 billion, then the growth will slowly trail off to 13.5 percent in 2006, the study found. In the SOHO/home market, sales will more than double, to $1.3 billion in 2002, before dropping off precipitously through 2006, when sales are only expected to grow 16 percent, to $2.8 billion.
Sales to small office and home users will gradually make up a bigger portion of the overall wireless sales pie. By 2006, they will make up 58 percent of overall sales vs. 54 percent this year and 44 percent in 2001. The research firm noted that sales in 2002 and future years will continue to be constrained by enterprise security concerns. That is, wireless LANs inherently lack certain security features of wired networks because wireless signals are susceptible to interception. And although they may cost less to install and maintain, the cost calculations should not overlook the investment needed to include additional security
technology.
The top three enterprise wireless LAN vendors continued to be Cisco, Agere, and Symbol, all of which recorded modest market share gains vs. one year ago.
Source: Internet Week
MobileInfo Advisory & Comments: Market
projections and press comments should reflect the economic trends in
the market. If you consider those trends and take into tight IT
budgets, outlook for wireless LANs is still very bright. Exact
growth percentage numbers are for bean counters, business
forecasters and discussions in vendor sales meetings. For technology
decision makers, what counts is that enterprises are installing
wireless LANs in increasing numbers because they offer good value.
Just be very very careful about security issues.
