Wave Issue 0304 2/14/03 Article 5-02

***In-Stat: Attractive Cost of 802.11b Drove Wi-Fi Shipments in
2002
(February 12)

The year 2002 proved to be a good one for WLAN volume growth,
driven by the increasingly cheap and reliable 802.11b technology,
according to In-Stat/MDR. The market research firm reports that
business Wi-Fi hardware shipments are expected to rise 65%
annually in 2002, to 11.6 million units and home shipments are
expected to increase by a very healthy 160%, to 6.8 million
units. However, falling prices for 802.11b equipment are expected
to cause total market revenues to grow by only 23%, from 1.8
billion in 2001 to $2.2 billion in 2002.

In-Stat/MDR also found that:

-- Many new types of hardware shipped in 2002: 802.11a NICs and
APs; dual-mode 2.4/5 GHz capable APs; dual-mode 2.4/5 GHz NICs;
and in late 2002, the first trickle of pre-standard 802.11g
products powered by Broadcom silicon.
-- Although verticals continued to sustain the bulk of high-end
business purchases, low-end infrastructure equipment flowed into
an increasing number of small businesses, as well as into remote
offices and small departments of large and medium businesses.
-- The increasing rate of embedded 802.11b into laptops greatly
increased, from 2 percent of NIC units shipped to businesses in
2001, to an expected 14 percent of total business client
shipments in 2002.
-- Brisk retail and e-tail sales of low-end router/AP devices,
along with NICs, drove the small business and home/SOHO worldwide
market growth. Retail outlets and Websites aggressively provided
rebates on Wi-Fi equipment.

The report, "It's Cheap and It Works: Wi-Fi Brings Wireless
Networking to the Masses" (#IN020181LN) includes five-year
forecasts of the worldwide total Wireless LAN (WLAN) equipment
market, including Wi-Fi equipment, i.e. 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g
and dual band 2.4/5GHz products. Business and home/SOHO (small
office, home office) Wi-Fi market forecasts are included, by
technology and equipment type. This report gauges the size of the
current market, and provides forecasts for the future, based on
products shipped and end-use sales of these three product
components. The report is priced at US$3,195.

www.instat.com