Amid Mixed Wireless LAN Market Results, Wi-Fi 6 Boosts Sales

The wireless LAN market showed mixed results in the second quarter of 2019, according to a recently published report by Dell’Oro Group. In a press release, the Dell’Oro Group asked the question: is this the calm before the storm? Despite somewhat weak wireless LAN market sales, Aruba Networks, Extreme Networks and Huawei all experienced a boost due to continued Wi-Fi 6 adoption.

Tam Dell’Oro, founder and CEO at Dell’Oro Group, commented that the soft wireless LAN market sales were not unexpected or unusual when compared to prior years. “However,” she added, “what caught our eye was the slowdown in overall unit shipments. The slowdown came from mid-range and high-end across many manufacturers. In contrast, sales were robust growing well into the double-digits Y/Y at the lower-end price-sensitive segment.”

Dell’Oro also said that Wi-Fi 6 is picking up momentum as several additional vendors, such as Cisco, Extreme Networks and Fortinet, began shipping products during the quarter. “Select vendors with Wi-Fi 6 already shipping enjoyed a surge in sales such as Aruba Networks and Huawei,” she added.

The wireless LAN 2Q 2019 Quarterly Report also revealed that sales within China outpaced all other regions of the world. In addition, after declining for several quarters, sales to the lower-Education vertical industry bounced back, and notable strength was observed in the government and manufacturing sectors.

A final  highlight from the report is the sharp rise in NBASE-T ports, a trend the Dell’Oro Group expects to continue as Wi-Fi 6 becomes more prominent and constant connectivity becomes expected. NBASE-T technology is a new type of Ethernet signaling that boosts the speed of installed base twisted-pair cabling well beyond the cable’s designed limit of 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) for distances up to 100 meters.

The full report covers the enterprise outdoor and indoor markets, and wireless LAN controllers with tables containing manufacturers’ revenue, average selling prices, and unit shipments by the following wireless standards: 802.11ax, 802.11ac Wave 1 vs. Wave 2, 802.11n and historic IEEE 802.11 standards.―RCR Wireless News