The global Wireless LAN (WLAN) equipment market, which has seen continuous growth over the last three years, is seeing a rare dip in market share as the industry transitions to centrally managed WLAN architectures.
In the first quarter of 2013, the WLAN market, which includes enterprise access points, WLAN controllers and Wi-Fi phones, declined by 7 percent to €767 million, according to Infonetics.
Independent access point shipments are down by almost 50 percent in an otherwise growing market, with Cisco and Aruba leading the race.
The two WLAN vendors are the only vendors boasting of a double-digit revenue market share. They are followed by HP, Motorola and Ruckus, which are all tied in third place.
“As we’ve cautioned before, growth in the WLAN market is slowing as the transition to 802.11n winds down and buyers await the arrival of 802.11ac products,” commented Infonetics’ Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video.
“Even so, WLAN remains a bright spot in the networking industry, and is up 18 percent year-on-year in 1Q13, driven by more wireless devices, mobility, and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement.”
Despite the quarterly decline in shipments, WLAN equipment revenue continues to show a double-digit year-on-year growth for the 14th quarter in a row.