Wi-Fi Chipset Revenue On Course to Reach $3B in 2008

(Top News, 6 Nov 2008)

Over the last several years, the market for Wi-Fi chipsets (primary components, excluding power amplifiers, LNAs and other external components) is expected to deliver revenues of nearly $3 billion in 2008, from just over $1 billion in 2006 and more than $2 billion in 2007.

"We expect more than 1 billion chipsets to ship during 2011 alone, while the 2013 opportunity will be more than 1.6 billion units," says Philip Solis, principal analyst, ABI Research.

On the device side, this is driven mainly by cellular handsets, consumer electronics, laptops, netbooks and MIDs. The laptop market already has 100 percent attach rates, so much of the growth will come in the other device categories.

Much of this powerful growth will be in 802.11n chips. "n" is quickly being built into access points and laptops, and a little less quickly in mobile devices, which will frequently use a variant that does not include MIMO connectivity, in order to preserve most of 802.11n's benefits but at lower cost and size.

Click here for more information on ABI Research