The wireless LAN market is forecast to expand nearly 40% from 2014 revenues, approaching $13 billion by 2019, according to a new report from Dell’Oro Group. A mini-upgrade cycle is expected to occur this year thanks to new 802.11ac ‘Wave 2’ Access Points and 2.5 & 5 Gbps Ethernet interfaces on Access Points.
“We expect 2015 to be a pivotal year for the Enterprise-class WLAN market with the introduction of higher speed 802.11ac Wave 2 systems,” said Chris DePuy, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “This will drive a need for greater Ethernet speeds, opening the door for an upgrade cycle to 2.5 and 5 Gbps Ethernet, which will drive a potential upgrade cycle for Campus Switching as well.”
In response to the new technology trends emerging in 2015, the Wireless LAN Five-Year Forecast Report now contains a forecast of both Wave 1 and Wave 2 802.11ac for Enterprise-class devices. In addition, in a related report called the Enterprise Edge Five-Year Forecast Report, Dell’Oro Group now forecasts both 2.5 Gbps and 5 Gbps Ethernet switch ports. Also included in the report are estimates on total SP WiFi units and revenue forecasts, and an analysis.
