Enterprise class Wireless LAN (WLAN) revenues increased quarter-on-quarter for the second time in a row – reaching $2,3-billion in 3Q 2024 – according to research group Dell’Oro Group which adds that the adoption of WiFi 7 continued its ascent, with shipments of the latest technology growing 69% over 2Q 2024.
“In 3Q 2024, the worldwide WLAN market performed better than it has in a year,” says Siân Morgan, research director at Dell’Oro Group. “This recovery has been gradual – and we are predicting that WLAN revenues will see significant year-on-year growth in 4Q 2024.
“Software licence revenues expanded double digits year-on-year and much of this growth is from vendors who have transitioned to a recurring model for software fees,” continues Morgan. “The adoption of WiFi 7 is material and will keep growing in 2025 once all major vendors recognise revenues from the products that have recently been announced. In 2025, we expect that nearly 40% of manufacturers’ Indoor AP revenues will come from WiFi 7.”
Additional highlights from the 3Q 2024 Wireless LAN Quarterly Report include:
- The market share ranks of some vendors have been volatile following supply constraints. Ubiquiti is taking advantage of this volatility and is expanding revenue share by targeting larger enterprises.
- Shipments of WLAN units to North America and EMEA grew on a year-on-year basis, confirming that the digestion of equipment oversupply is waning.
- Huawei remained the forerunner in WiFi 7 shipments although the company’s lead is shrinking as other vendors join the race and gain momentum.
- We predict that, in 2025, new AI-Ops features for WLAN will be announced and contribute to continued growth of recurring software revenues.