Wi-Fi Research Service
Wireless Semiconductors Research Service
|
what's next in connectivity | |
|
Monday - May 12, 2008
|
||
Broadcom’s New Solution Gives Atheros Serious Competition in the Enterprise Wi-Fi Access Point Space
2008-04-29
Enterprise Wi-Fi access points have historically used chipsets from Atheros, which has dominated this space for some time. Only Cisco has started to use another supplier, and that was only recently. The problem certainly was not that competitors like Broadcom could not compete in this space; they just did not want to. For Wi-Fi chipset vendors, the enterprise Wi-Fi access point market is much smaller than the consumer Wi-Fi access point market. Additionally, the enterprise Wi-Fi access point market starts to look very tiny when we consider where Wi-Fi chipsets go: Access points, external adapters, laptops, PDAs, cellular handsets, VoWi-Fi handsets, UMPCs, MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices), line-powered and portable consumer electronics devices, PNDs, digital picture frames, asset tags, personal robots, and so forth. So, why has why Broadcom chosen to enter this market in a serious way now? What are the upsides in related business that Broadcom can expect? And, what are prospects for Broadcom’s success?
| Authors: | Stan Schatt | Vice President & Research Director, Wireless Connectivity Philip Solis | Principal Analyst, Mobile Broadband |
2008-04-29
Enterprise Wi-Fi access points have historically used chipsets from Atheros, which has dominated this space for some time. Only Cisco has started to use another supplier, and that was only recently. The problem certainly was not that competitors like Broadcom could not compete in this space; they just did not want to. For Wi-Fi chipset vendors, the enterprise Wi-Fi access point market is much smaller than the consumer Wi-Fi access point market. Additionally, the enterprise Wi-Fi access point market starts to look very tiny when we consider where Wi-Fi chipsets go: Access points, external adapters, laptops, PDAs, cellular handsets, VoWi-Fi handsets, UMPCs, MIDs (Mobile Internet Devices), line-powered and portable consumer electronics devices, PNDs, digital picture frames, asset tags, personal robots, and so forth. So, why has why Broadcom chosen to enter this market in a serious way now? What are the upsides in related business that Broadcom can expect? And, what are prospects for Broadcom’s success?