The enterprise wireless local area network (WLAN) market continues to see steady growth while consumer sales are softer, according to the most recent International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Wireless LAN Tracker.
Enterprise WLAN growth for the full year 2017 was 5.7% with $5.7 billion in revenues. For Q4 2017, revenues grew 6.5% to $1.5 billion.
Consumer WLAN revenue for the full year 2017 decreased 7.3% compared to 2016 to reach $3.65 billion. For Q4, decreased 9.8% on a year-over-year basis in 4Q17, finishing at $916 million. In 4Q17, the 802.11ac standard accounted for 40% of shipments and 69% of revenue in the consumer category. IDC said the slower adoption of 802.11ac in the consumer segment along with price erosion in the 802.11n standard are contributing factors to declining revenues in the consumer-grade WLAN segment.
"Growth in the enterprise segment of the WLAN market continues, albeit at a steadier pace, while the consumer segment is seeing some challenging times," said Brandon Butler, senior research analyst, Network Infrastructure at IDC. "Organizations continue to realize the benefits and new business opportunities that can be realized by updating and improving their WLAN networks, which is providing opportunities for vendors and network solution providers around the globe."
IDC provided the following updates on key enterprise WLAN companies:
- Cisco's worldwide enterprise WLAN revenues decreased 2.9% sequentially from the third to fourth quarters of 2017, but they were positive on a year-over-year basis, up 5.1% to $646.8 million. For the full year, revenues were up 4.8% in 2017 to $2.49 billion. Cisco saw positive momentum in its cloud-managed networking platform Meraki. The company remains the comfortable market share leader, finishing the year with 43.6% share, compared to 44.0% share in 2016.
- HPE-Aruba (excluding its OEM business and excluding H3C as of 2Q16) saw its revenue decrease 5.3% quarter over quarter in 4Q17 to $193 million. That represents a 1.2% increase from the same quarter in 2016. For the full year, revenues were up 8.8% to $852 million, giving the company 14.9% market share.
- ARRIS/Ruckus, despite being bought by Brocade in 2016 and then subsequently sold to ARRIS in 2017 – a deal that closed in December, the company remains the number three company in terms of market share and continues to be a significant player in the market. Revenues were up 3.0% sequentially in the fourth quarter to $90.5 million, and up 24.4% compared to 4Q16. For the year, revenues fell 5.3% to $334 million, giving the company 5.9% market share.
- Ubiquiti recorded strong growth, with revenues increasing 7.3% sequentially and 16.8% year over year to $85.1 million. For the full year, revenues rose 30.9% to $318 million, representing 5.6% market share.
- Huawei once again had a strong quarter with revenues in the fourth quarter of 2017 rising 28.6% from the third quarter and up 9.5% from the quarter a year earlier to $96 million. For the full year, revenues rose 45.0% in 2017 to $283 million, giving the company 5.0% market share to end 2017.
