Infonetics: Strong Wireless LAN Sales in Q2

Global wireless LAN equipment and WiFi phone sales grew 16% sequentially in 2Q12, to $993 million, driven by strong demand in North America and the education and retail verticals, according to a new Infonetics report, which tracks 802.11 a/b/g, 802.11n, and 802.11ac access points (APs), wireless LAN (WLAN) controllers, and WiFi phones for the enterprise.

"Wireless LAN has had a very good run over the last couple of years, even outperforming wired LAN, and the WLAN market is now approaching the $1-billion-per-quarter mark," notes Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research.  "The world is going wireless, and users expect fast, always-on connectivity no matter where they are. Enterprises need to keep pace with ever-increasing bandwidth demands, and next-gen WLAN gear based on fast 802.11n and soon 802.11ac technologies gives them a reason to upgrade."

Some additional highlights:

WLAN equipment revenue in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) is up by more than 1/3 year-over-year

Revenue for outdoor access points rose 45% from the year-ago 2nd quarter due to increasing deployments of WiFi by service providers

Cisco, the perennial leader in the wireless LAN equipment market, gained about 4 market share points year-over-year in 2Q12; Aruba again took the #2 spot; HP leapfrogged Motorola to take 3rd

Vocera widened its lead over Polycom and Cisco in the race for enterprise WiFi phone market share in 2Q12

http://www.infonetics.com