At a time when investor confidence in the high-tech sector would appear to be at an all time low, the wireless LAN (WLAN) industry is bucking the trend and worldwide shipments are set to increase by 73% this year, according to a new report from Gartner Dataquest.
The technology research group calculates that revenue from worldwide WLAN shipments will be up 26% to E2.1 billion in 2002. This growth is set to continue into 2003 with shipments increasing to 26.5 million units from 15.5 million units. Revenue is predicted to rise at a similar rate to E2.8 billion.
“The increase in wireless LAN-enabled mobile PCs and PDAs will drive demand for wireless LAN access in a variety of locations to support mobile access to business applications,” said Gartner analyst Andy Rolfe. “These include homes for teleworkers and ‘day extenders’, public spaces or ‘hotspots’, and enterprise premises. As wireless LAN equipment prices continue to fall and speed increases, wireless solutions will become a viable alternative to wired LANs in small premises.”
North America continues to drive the development of WLAN technology and is projected to account for 63% of shipments in 2002. Nonetheless, the Gartner report claims that the market has great potential and forecasts significant growth and expansion in the next five years.
