ABI Research forecasts the 802.11ac access points, the fifth generation of WiFi radios that promise a theoretical maximum of 1.3 Gigabit per second (Gbps) speed to take significant portion of shipments this year as compared to the previous generations of access points such as 802.11a/b/g and the current predominant 802.11n-based access points.
An enhanced 802.11ac release promises much better speeds of 7Gbps of data in the 5 GHz spectrum, delivering much higher speed compared to the first generation 802.11ac devices.
The 802.11ac access point shipments are expected to start dominating the market with 32 million shipment in 2014, with D-Link and NETGEAR taking 20% of the share. The 802.11ac shipments which represent 18% of total 176 million units in 2014, will start slowing down the shipment of 802.11n based access points by the end of 2014. In the enterprise Wi-Fi market that sees an increased deployments of 802.11ac devices, Cisco and Aruba Networks sold the largest numbers of these new wifi gears.
According to ABI Research’s Market Data for Wi-Fi Customer Premise Equipment, total shipments of Wi-Fi access points, routers, and residential gateways are set to surpass 176 million units by the end of 2014. ABI attributed this to the rapidly growing Wi-Fi enabled mobile devices and multimedia applications.
"Growth is expected in all regions, driven by increased broadband penetration and more connected devices in homes."
- Jake Saunders, VP and practice director
"The combined shipments of the two companies represented more than 20% of worldwide 802.11ac shipments in 1Q 2014. ABI Research expects that nearly 32 million 802.11ac access points will be shipped in 2014."
- Khin Sandi Lynn, industry analyst
