Skip to main content

Outlook for the Worldwide Wi-Fi Phone Market

The worldwide Wi-Fi phone market increased 116 percent between 2004 and 2005 to $125.5 million, and is projected to more than double in 2006 as enterprises and consumers slowly but steadily continue deploying voice over wireless LANs, says Infonetics Research in its latest report.

Infonetics projects Wi-Fi phone revenue to more or less double, and even nearly triple, every year through 2009, when the worldwide market will reach $3.7 billion.
Initially an enterprise application, VoWLAN will eventually become more popular with consumers as well, having enormous growth potential as part of a VoIP service bundled with broadband connections.

"Single-mode Wi-Fi VoIP handsets continue to penetrate the enterprise market, and with D-Link, Linksys, and NETGEAR all launching products, we expect increasing adoption in the consumer market, too," said Richard Webb, directing wireless analyst with Infonetics Research.

"But the real growth will come from dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets," Webb continued. "With the increased activity from both fixed and mobile operators to deliver dual-mode services to the mass market, often as part of a more far-reaching fixed-mobile convergence strategy, the long-term forecast for dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets is strong, assuming these handsets come down in price to sub-100 dollars or euros."

Report Highlights Include:

- SpectraLink leads the overall Wi-Fi phone revenue market in 2005, followed by Cisco and Motorola.
- Total Wi-Fi phone units grew 151 percent between 2004 and 2005 and will grow 182 percent between 2005 and 2006.
- 58 percent of Wi-Fi phone revenue came from single-mode WiFi VoIP handsets in 2005, 42 percent from dual-mode handsets; by 2009, 91 percent of revenue will come from dual-mode handsets.
- 49 percent of dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handset revenue came from Asia Pacific, 27 percent from North America, 22 percent EMEA, 2 percent CALA in 2005, but this shifts dramatically by 2009, when much more revenue will be generated in EMEA.

Popular posts from this blog

AI Supercycle: Server Market Growth Surge

The worldwide server market has entered a new phase defined almost entirely by artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure economics rather than traditional enterprise refresh cycles.   The latest market data shows robust growth and a structural shift in where value is created, who captures it, and which architectures are setting the pace for the next decade. IDC reports that worldwide server revenue reached a record $112.4 billion in the third quarter of 2025, representing a striking 61 percent year-over-year increase compared to the same quarter in 2024. For context, this means the market is adding tens of billions of dollars in incremental quarterly spend, driven overwhelmingly by AI and accelerated computing requirements.  IT Server Market Development Over the first three quarters of 2025, server revenue has already reached $314.2 billion, meaning the market has nearly doubled in size compared to 2024, underscoring how AI buildouts have compressed several years of exp...