Enterprise WLAN Market Growth Accelerated in 2018, Consumer Growth was Mixed

According to IDC, the combined consumer and enterprise global wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments increased revenues 8.9% year over year in the 4Q18 and 4.3% for the full year.

The US accounted for 36.3% of worldwide revenues in 2018. Enterprise results were mixed with revenues down 7.5% in 4Q18 compared to 3Q18 but rose 9.9% compared to 4Q17. Overall, the U.S. enterprise WLAN market grew 4.8% in 2018.

IDC research manager, Petr Jirovsky, said: “After a somewhat sluggish start to 2018, the second half of the year saw solid growth rates, which in turn contributed to overall growth in the market in 2018. While results were mixed around the world, both mature and emerging countries continue to invest in WLAN infrastructure.”

Additional findings:

• Revenue in the global enterprise WLAN market grew 10.3% year-over-year in 4Q18, and 7.1% for the full year.
• Revenue in the global consumer WLAN market rose 6.9% year-over-year in 4Q18, and only 0.2% for the full year.
• The 802.11ac standard accounted for 86.8% of dependent access point unit shipments in 4Q18 and 85.7% for the full year in the enterprise category
• The 802.11ac standard accounted for 54.3% of shipments and 76.8% of revenue in 4Q18 in the consumer category.
• Some vendors have begun releasing products based on the newest wireless standard, 802.11ax (WiFi 6) with shipments of the product expected to ramp up through 2019 and 2020.

Click here for more information on IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly WLAN Tracker.