Skip to main content

Growth of Wi-Fi Enabled Consumer Electronics

While consumer electronics today rely largely on physical media and on broadcast delivery of entertainment content, a new study from ABI Research finds the market in the midst of a major shift to a greater reliance on network-based delivery. Wi-Fi networking is expected to become a key enabler for delivery and redistribution of this content in the home, particularly for retail consumer electronics hardware.

ABI Research forecasts that the total number of Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics devices will grow from just 40 million shipped in 2006 to nearly 249 million in 2011.

"From the enormous interest in online gaming to the rapid emergence of new Internet distribution channels for top-tier movie and TV content, the need for connectivity in mainstream consumer electronics is growing rapidly," said research director Michael Wolf. "While the consumer Wi-Fi market has previously consisted largely of routers, gateways and adapters, ABI Research believes that as the market evolves towards digital distribution, its growth will be fueled by the inclusion of embedded Wi-Fi in consumer electronics."

The market today is led by portable gaming consoles, as both Nintendo and Sony have equipped their latest generation devices with Wi-Fi for multiplayer and online gaming. The new Zune from Microsoft signals the beginning of a large scale movement towards embedded Wi-Fi in portable media players, while camera vendors such as Nikon, Kodak and Canon have all embraced Wi-Fi in their products. Line-powered devices such as gaming consoles, DVD players and audio receivers are all expected to see high attach rates for Wi-Fi during the forecast period.

Senior analyst Philip Solis adds, "The development of a market for Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics has been hampered by technology limitations such as power consumption, but it has also been delayed by consumer electronics vendors' hesitation as they waited to see what would happen with 802.11n. With the 802.11n standard set to be ratified in a little over a year, the Wi-Fi Alliance's decision to certify solutions based on a draft 2.0 for 802.11n, and vendors' intentions to release products based on the current Wi-Fi protocols, this market is set for growth."

Popular posts from this blog

AI-Driven Data Center Liquid Cooling Demand

The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and hyperscale cloud computing is fundamentally reshaping data center infrastructure, and liquid cooling is emerging as an indispensable solution. As traditional air-cooled systems reach their physical limits, the IT industry is under pressure to adopt more efficient thermal management strategies to meet growing demands, while complying with stringent environmental regulations. Liquid Cooling Market Development The latest ABI Research analysis reveals momentum in liquid cooling adoption. Installations are forecast to quadruple between 2023 and 2030. The market will reach $3.7 billion in value by the decade's end, with a CAGR of 22 percent. The urgency behind these numbers becomes clear when examining energy metrics: liquid cooling systems demonstrate 40 percent greater energy efficiency when compared to conventional air-cooling architectures, while simultaneously enabling ~300-500 percent increases in computational density per rac...