There was a glimmer of hope in the enterprise class wireless LAN (WLAN) market as revenues increased Q/Q to $2,2-billion, according to a Dell’Oro report.
The adoption of Wi-Fi 7 accelerated, with Huawei shipping over half of the world’s units.
“While WLAN revenues dropped significantly Y/Y, the fact that 2Q registered the first Q/Q growth in a year is a positive sign for the industry,” says Siân Morgan, research director at Dell’Oro Group. “During the famine and feast of the supply chain problems, the market share ranking of some vendors has been volatile.
“Juniper’s Mist WLAN has climbed up 3 positions on the market leader table, overtaking CommScope, Extreme, and H3C on a trailing four-quarter basis. Now that the demand-driven market is returning, vendors will be fighting to re-establish their market position.”
Other highlights from the 2Q 2024 Wireless LAN Quarterly Report include:
- WiFi 7 adoption surged in 2Q 2024; however, large volumes of WiFi 6E APs were also sold, especially to North America.
- Dell’Oro Group’s outlook calls for a gradual recovery in revenues in the second half of the year and into 2025.
- All macro regions contracted on a Y/Y basis. North America gained in revenue share, signaling the region is recovering from the excess supply that has dampened demand.
- The purchase of Juniper by HPE obtained several regulatory approvals, and enterprise uncertainty about the acquisition does not appear to be dampening sales of Juniper Mist WLAN.