According to a report by International Data Corporation (IDC), the enterprise segment of the worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market declined 5.2 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $2.5 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023.
As per the report, recent quarters in the WLAN industry have seen outsized growth rates, driven by vendors drawing down a record-high backlog of product orders as supply chain and product availabilities normalise. In the most recent quarter, organisations across the globe are taking time to implement the high amount of product that has been delivered in recent quarters, leading to declining growth rates, which is an issue that is expected to persist in the coming quarter.
Further, the report states that the adoption of Wi-Fi 6E, the newest standard in the WLAN industry that expands Wi-Fi’s use to include the 6 GHz band of spectrum, continued to grow in Q3 2023. Wi-Fi 6E revenues grew 13 per cent between Q2 and Q3 to make up 20.4 per cent of dependent access point (AP) revenues and 9.6 per cent of the quarter’s unit shipments. Wi-Fi 6 made up most of the remaining dependent AP revenues (74.8 per cent) and unit shipments (76.6 per cent) with the legacy Wi-Fi 5 standard making up the balance.
Meanwhile, according to the report, the consumer segment of the WLAN market declined 13.7 per cent YoY in Q323. Wi-Fi 6 made up 57.9 per cent of the market segment’s revenues, with Wi-Fi 5 still accounting for 32.4 per cent of market revenues. Wi-Fi 6E adoption remains nascent in the consumer segment, making up just 6.2 per cent of revenues.
Commenting on the findings, Brandon Butler, research manager, enterprise networks, IDC, said, “The third quarter of 2023 marked a shift in the multi-year dynamics of the WLAN industry related to supply chain disruptions, product backlogs, and now, with product availability increasing, a period where organisations across the globe are deploying WLAN products before placing new orders. Nonetheless, WLAN remains an important technology for organisations and enhancements like the continued adoption of Wi-Fi 6E continue to drive the WLAN market forward.”
The report finds that the enterprise WLAN market had mixed results across the globe. In the US, the market increased 1.2 per cent YoY in Q323 while in Canada the market fell 3.9 per cent. In Latin America, the market rose 23.5 per cent. In Western Europe, the market declined 11.2 per cent while in Central and Eastern Europe, the market was off 6.7 per cent. In the Middle East and Africa region, market revenues rose 7.5 per cent. In the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan and China, the market fell 0.6 per cent. In the People’s Republic of China, the market declined 24.1 per cent, while in Japan the market fell 12.8 per cent.
