Supply constraints will be a “pin in the balloon” for WiFi 6E, as WiFi 7 Enterprise class wireless LAN becomes available in 2023, according to a reoprt from Dell-Oro Group.
“Although manufacturers launched WiFi 6E products in mid-2021, products are either not available, or they are in very limited supply. Supply constraints have prompted manufacturers to focus on enabling the availability of popular models by re-designing these models with components that are more readily available,” says Tam Dell’Oro, founder, CEO and wireless LAN analyst at the researcher.
“Our interviews with systems integrators reveal users are asking for WiFi 6, not 6E. Therefore, if companies have to prioritise their production, WiFi 6 will be the priority.
“WiFi shipments in the second half of 2021 excluding China, were significantly limited because of supply constraints. Ecosystem players do not see constraints easing until the end of 2022.
“With WiFi 7 products shipping as early as 2023, we predict users will bypass 6E,” Dell’Oro adds.
“In addition to supply constraints inhibiting the rate of adoption of WiFi 6E, we have learned that compliance with regulations to operate within the 6GHz spectrum are slowing the deployment process. Compliance processes have yet to be standardised and easy to implement.”
In the Wireless LAN 5-Year Forecast Report, Dell’Oro has raised its forecast of the enterprise class Wireless LAN market as a result of recently published government initiatives to advance technology, and delayed fulfillment of pent-up demand.
It is now forecast that, over the next five years, $45-billion to $50-billion will be spent on enterprise class WiFi equipment and artificial intelligence applications.
After several years of share gains, shipments of cloud-managed access points did not gain share in 2021.