Wonders of WLAN Showcases at COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2009

Jun 03, 2009 17:31 JST

Source: COMPUTEX TAIPEI

COMPUTEX, Taipei, Jun 03, 2009 - (ACN Newswire) - Demand for information transmission not only enables the rapid progress of technologies, it also hastens the development of ICT products. Wireless LAN (WLAN) is one of the important products that are thriving with huge business opportunities which are staged at COMPUTEX TAIPEI this June 2 to June 6, 2009. This is where hundreds of key companies will demonstrate their latest solutions for the WLAN market. That's where you can explore the mega trends of the WLAN industry as well as the diverse WLAN applications which are shaping up to be the hottest topics at the season.

WLAN market of sizzling prospects!

The price drop of WLAN chipset has driven the penetration growth of embedded WLAN modules in NB and consumer electronics. The widespread usage of WLAN in SOHO, SMB (Small and Medium Business), and public hot spots and the readiness of 802.11n has continued to spur the growth of WLAN market. And yes, the WLAN has also been struck by the global financial turmoil and will take some time to recover. In spite of this, shipments are still expected to rise due to the rapid emergence of the Netbook market in 2009. It is estimated that worldwide shipments of WLAN chipsets will reach 390 million sets this year, an annual growth rate 2.63%.

Taiwan holds > 80% of NIC Mkt Share

Taiwanese companies that enjoy a market share exceeding 80% play an important role in the worldwide WLAN NIC (Network Interface Card) market. Key Taiwan companies include Hon Hai, Gemtek, USI, and Asus. Traditionally, first quarter is a low season for the WLAN industry. In particular, owing to the murky outlook this year, vendors begin to enter the emerging markets in the Middle East and South America in a bid to hedge their risks.

In terms of product portfolio, 802.11g still accounts for the largest portion, with 57.6% in the first quarter of 2009. As for 802.11n, several reasons, including the initial shipment of 802.11n routers and APs (Access Points) from Taiwanese makers from 4Q08, price fall, and the certification of voice application launched by Wi-Fi Alliance, have all pushed the minor growth of 802.11n products. It is expected that the price gap between 11g and 11n will be shortened in 2009; as a result, the shipment ratio of 11n will also increase by 31.9% in 4Q09.

WLAN Applications Getting Diverse

The enhancement of 802.11n in transmission bandwidth and stability has made it possible to send more information faster and to expand application areas. And with efforts of vendors such as Intel, Broadcom, and Atheros, 802.11n products are growing more popular. Market patterns reveal that initial applications are mainly for NICs, APs, and routers. However, as demand for multi-functional and inter-operable multimedia applications rise, WLAN usually shifts to consumer products. In the future, some consumer electronics will be embedded with 802.11n technology. But, by end of 2009, NB is still the key application for 802.11n.

Meanwhile, to improve profitability, major WLAN chipset providers, such as Broadcom, Atheros, are all aggressively expanding applications beyond NB. For example, Atheros, Raylink, and Realtek are endeavoring to grab new opportunities on the NetBook market while Atheros has won orders from HP and Sony. Raylink also successfully moved into the supply chain of Acer and Asus. The continuous price drop of 802.11n chipsets has also spurred companies to adopt.

And with VoIP trends such as Skype, the demand for WLAN module for GSM and other dual mode mobile phones is also on the rise. In line with the compact and lightweight features, major chipset vendors also start to develop WLAN module IC.

It is expected that more 802.11n end products will be showcased at this years COMPUTEX TAIPEI. WLAN application will also move from consumer 11n routers to bridge everything from digital homes, corporate markets, and storage devices, to video surveillance to videoconference, and multimedia applications such as voice, HD video streaming and IP A/V transmission.

View the Day #2 "Computex Taipei Show Daily": http://ecatalog.manufacturers.com.tw/ecatalog.asp?eId=E7819040

Contact:

Ms. Laura Fan, 
Exhibition Department, TAITRA,
Tel: 886-2-2725-5200 Ext. 2634, 
E-mail: peifei@taitra.org.tw

Ms. Ruby Chen, 
Exhibition Department, TAITRA,
Tel: 886-2-2725-5200 Ext. 2639, 
E-mail: rubychen@taitra.org.tw

Source: COMPUTEX TAIPEI
Sectors: IT Individual