Skip to main content

Tri-Band Wi-Fi is Primed for Next Wave of Market Growth

Wireless communications around the globe has been greatly enhanced by Wi-Fi technologies and the associated unlicensed radio bands. Many consumer electronics devices use Wi-Fi to gain access to the public internet and a variety of cloud-based services.

Wi-Fi technology and associated telecom regulation continues to evolve to meet the growing demand. As the 2.4 gigahertz band became saturated in many dense urban markets, vendors and users switched to routers and access-points that utilized the 5 gigahertz band.

Wi-Fi access points based on the 802.11ac global standard have steadily gained momentum over the past year, rising to represent 39 percent of total Wi-Fi access points shipped in 2015.

According to the latest market study by ABI Research, adoption will continue to accelerate in 2016 as more 802.11ac Wave 2 products enter the market, along with the introduction of tri-band access points.

Evolving Market Development for Wi-Fi Innovation

"Wave 2 access points are based on a richer set of technologies in the 802.11ac specification," said Sam Rosen, vice president at ABI Research.

This includes MU-MIMO, which supports better efficiency for high density wireless environments. ABI analysts now forecast that Wave 2 access points will drive 802.11ac shipments, with those shipments representing nearly 65 percent of total Wi-Fi access points in 2016.

In addition to the emergence of Wave 2 product this year, tri-band access points are likely to hit the market in the first half of 2016.

Tri-band Wi-Fi products use 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ad in the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 60 GHz bands, respectively, and are backward compatible to the older protocols within each band.

Priming the Wi-Fi Market for Tri-Band Technologies

"If all goes according to plan, TP-Link's Talon AD product line will kick-start the market for tri-band access points with WiGig (802.11 ad)," concludes Rosen.

The access points, however, are likely to take an additional one to two years time before they gain significant market share in the overall Wi-Fi CPE market.

Moving beyond the scope of this year's market data to take a look at the overall market, ABI Research predicts Wi-Fi access point shipments to surpass 204 million units in consumer applications and 19.3 million units in enterprise in 2020 -- with the majority of those shipments supporting the 802.11ac standard.

Popular posts from this blog

Industrial Cloud Computing Apps Gain Momentum

In the manufacturing industry, cloud computing can help leaders improve their production efficiency by providing them with real-time data about their operations. This has gained the attention of the C-suite. Total forecast Industrial Cloud platform revenue in manufacturing will surpass $300 billion by 2033 with a CAGR of 22.57 percent, driven by solution providers enhancing platform interoperability while expanding partner ecosystems for application development. ABI Research found the cloud computing manufacturing market will grow over the next decade due to the adoption of new architectural frameworks that enhance data extraction and interoperability for manufacturers looking to maximize utility from their data. Industrial Cloud Computing Market Development "Historically, manufacturers have built out their infrastructure to include expensive data housing in the form of on-premises servers. The large initial upfront cost of purchasing, setting up, and maintaining these servers is

Demand for Quantum Computing as a Service

The enterprise demand for quantum computing is still in its early stages, growing slowly. As the technology becomes more usable, we may see demand evolve beyond scientific applications. The global quantum computing market is forecast to grow from $1.1 billion in 2022 to $7.6 billion in 2027, according to the latest worldwide market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). That's a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.1 percent. The forecast includes base Quantum Computing as a Service, as well as enabling and adjacent Quantum Computing as a Service. However, this updated forecast is considerably lower than IDC's previous quantum computing forecast, which was published in 2021, due to lower demand globally. Quantum Computing Market Development In the interim, customer spend for quantum computing has been negatively impacted by several factors, including: slower than expected advances in quantum hardware development, which have delayed potential return on inve

Credit Scoring Service Spending will Reach $44B

Credit scoring is a method that lenders use to predict the probability a borrower or counter-party will default on loans, or incur additional charges for repayment -- also known as measuring credit worthiness. The method is a key tool in making credit affordable for individuals and businesses. It links credit products to risk potential, connecting borrowers to secondary capital markets and increasing the amount of funds available. This securing process establishes risk predictability dependent on a number of factors, determined by financial indicators and other publicly available information reported by the credit bureaus. Credit Score Market Development According to the latest worldwide market study by Juniper Research, they now forecast credit scoring services will grow by 67 percent to $44 billion by 2028. Juniper anticipates that emerging markets will experience the greatest growth -- projecting the African & Middle Eastern region to grow by 117 percent over the forecast period