Friday, 03 September 2010
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| Tuesday, 19 January 2010 | |
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802.11n Wi-Fi is rocking says ABI Research…
In 2009, 802.11n WLAN access point shipments increased by nearly 44% over the previous year, and there was particularly strong demand for enterprise WLAN 802.11n. So maintains ABI Research. In the company’s analysis, ‘Wi-Fi Equipment Market Data’, it’s calculated over 400,000 thousand enterprise access points were shipped in the first three quarters of 2009. The firm also estimates that enterprise 802.11n access point shipments reached half a million by the end of last year. In the In separate research, ‘Wi-Fi Handsets - Moving to 802.11n’, ABI reckons that although 802.11n Wi-Fi technology was found in less than 1% of Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones last year, in 2014 at least 87% of Wi-Fi-capable smartphones will feature this latest of the 802.11 protocols. “Driven by chip-makers more than by handset vendors, 802.11n is making its official debut in higher-end smartphones in 2010,” says ABI Research industry analyst Michael Morgan. “802.11n is arriving in the handset just at the right time. We had to wait for consumers to switch over to 802.11n access points, and we’re just now reaching that tipping point. Something like 50% of the Wi-Fi access points on offer are now 11n. Consumers are becoming aware of what it can do.” However, users of these phones shouldn’t expect laptop-like performance, at least not initially. “At first, 802.11n-enabled handsets will not offer MIMO or some of 11n’s more advanced enhancements,” cautions Morgan. “So users won’t see the same degree of improvement that they would with a laptop or netbook. While 802.11n will start to penetrate mid- and lower-end smartphones from about 2012 on, the full power of the protocol won’t be available in most handsets until 2014 or later.” Meantime, late last year in a list of what won’t happen this year, ABI suggested that higher education would NOT relinquish its leadership in early adoption of 802.11n. Covering all the bases, so to speak, the company believes colleges will continue to deploy the largest 802.11n installations in 2010. ABI figures they will continue to have the greatest need to do so because of increasing use of video on campus as well as bandwidth demands in large lecture halls and dorms. John Williamson |
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