Worldwide sales of wireless local area network (WLAN) semiconductors are expected to grow by 29 per cent over the next five years according to an International Data Corp. (IDC) report released on Tuesday.
The report, titled Worldwide WLAN Semiconductor Market Forecast and Review, 2001-2006, said WLAN semiconductor sales revenues will increase from US$331 million in 2001 to US$1.16 billion in 2006.
The forecast stated sales growth will be fuelled by decreasing power, size and cost requirements that will enable embedded solutions to become the preferred solution.
“IDC expects PC vendors will increasingly shift towards an embedded approach as the demand for mobile connectivity makes WLAN an attractive offering within notebook PCs,” said Ken Furer, research analyst with IDC’s semiconductor group, in a statement.
The report concluded that dual-band chipsets will also be a major trend in the marketplace. IDC expects the dual-band approach to move to the forefront in 2004 as confidence in backward compatibility to 802.11b and future proofing to 802.11a becomes significant in the selection process.
The report looked at key vendors in the market including Intel, Intersil, Agere, Cirrus Logic, Texas Instruments, Philips Semiconductors and Cisco Systems.
Intersil remains the top supplier, with Agere a close second in a marketplace where WLAN semiconductor vendors have posted strong sales growth in the first half of 2002, the report said.
IDC, in Framingham, Mass. can be found at http://www.idc.com.
