IEEE 802.11n Update, Forecast, and Vendor Evaluation

Consumer and Commercial Market Drivers, Winners, and Losers

This report describes the leading drivers for IEEE 802.11n adoption in both consumer and commercial markets. It highlights the leading early adopter vertical markets and forecasts 802.11n adoption among several different verticals. IEEE 802.11n vendors have differentiated their products in a number of ways, particularly because there is no final standard as yet for this technology. This report analyzes these vendors’ value propositions and market positioning and provides a detailed vendor matrix that identifies winners in several major product categories including, best channel, best value proposition, best innovation, best product implementation, and overall winner.

What Questions Does This Report Answer?

  • What are the key vertical segments of the 802.11n enterprise market and how quickly will they grow?
  • What are the key components of the consumer 802.11n market?
  • What are the key drivers for growth in this market?
  • What are the obstacles to this growth?
  • How will 802.11n chips be distributed?
  • Which vendors rate the highest for their 802.11n products?
  • Which vendors are far behind and will be forced to play catch-up?
  • What are the current key technical differentiators in the 802.11n market?
  • What will be the impact of next generation 802.11n chips?

Who Needs This Report?

  • Wireless LAN equipment marketing directors
  • Wireless LAN equipment product managers
  • 802.11n chipmakers
  • CIOs and network managers
  • Directors of professional services WLAN equipment groups
  • Consumer WLAN product managers
  • Consumer WLAN product marketing managers
  • Stock analysis firms covering the wireless LAN enterprise equipment companies
  • Stock analysis forms covering the wireless LAN consumer equipment companies
  • Venture capital firms analyzing opportunities in the wireless LAN market.
  • Consultants advising clients in the WLAN equipment market

Table of Contents


Section 1.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1.1. Scope of this Report
1.2. IEEE 802.11n
1.3. The Current Consumer Market
1.4. Early Adopters in the Commercial Market
1.5. Likely Adoption Patterns
1.6. The All Wireless Company
1.7. 802.11n Technical Differentiation
1.8. The Growth of 802.11n
1.9. Determining 802.11n Winners
1.9.1. Implementation
1.9.2. Innovation
1.10. Winners and Losers

Section 2.
MARKET ISSUES
2.1. What is IEEE 802.11n?
2.2. Drivers for 802.11n Adoption
2.3. Applications Benefitting Specifically from 802.11n
2.4. The IEEE 802.11n Consumer Market
2.4.1. A Tower of Babel -- “Turbo g”, MIMO, and 802.11n
2.4.2. What is Needed to Accelerate 802.11n Growth in the Consumer Market
2.5. The IEEE 802.11n Commercial Market
2.5.1. Early Adopters
2.5.1.1. Higher Education
2.5.1.2. Healthcare
2.5.1.3. Retail
2.5.1.4. Manufacturing
2.5.1.5. Mining
2.5.2. The 802.11n “Surge”
2.6. 802.11n Clients
2.6.1. Likely Large Enterprise Adoption Patterns
2.6.2. Cost Considerations Associated with 802.11n Deployments
2.6.3. The 802.11n All Wireless Enterprise
2.6.4. Small Businesses
2.6.4.1. Which SMBs will be 802.11n Early Adopters?

Section 3.
TECHNOLOGY ISSUES
3.1. A Draft and not a Standard
3.2. 802.11n Technology Differences
3.2.1. Throughput
3.2.2. Range
3.2.3. Physical Data Rate Selection
3.2.4. MIM0-OFDM
3.2.5. Spatial Multiplexing
3.2.6. Greater Efficiency
3.2.7. Channel Size
3.2.8. Spectrum Availability
3.2.9. Power over Ethernet
3.2.9.1. Vendor Positioning & Solutions to POE and 802.11n
3.3. Mixed Network Contention Issues
3.4. Lack of Planning Tools
3.5. Mesh
3.6. Access Point Density and 802.11n
3.7. Power Savings
3.8. The 802.11n Architectural Wars
3.9. The Impact of 802.11n on the Wire Line Network

Section 4.
KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS AND COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
4.1. Consumer WLAN Equipment Vendors
4.1.1. Belkin
4.1.2. D-Link
4.1.3. Linksys
4.1.4. Netgear
4.2. Commercial WLAN Equipment Vendors
4.2.1. Aerohive
4.2.2. Apple
4.2.3. Aruba
4.2.4. Bluesocket
4.2.5. Cisco
4.2.6. Colubris
4.2.7. Extricom
4.2.8. HP
4.2.9. Meru Networks
4.2.10. Motorola
4.2.11. Nortel
4.2.12. Ruckus Wireless
4.2.13. Siemens
4.2.14. Trapeze Networks
4.2.15. Xirrus
4.3. 802.11n Chip Makers
4.3.1. Atheros
4.3.2. Broadcom
4.3.3. Intel
4.3.4. Marvell

Section 5.
RANKING VENDORS ON 801.11N
5.1. Criteria for Evaluation
5.1.1. Implementation
5.1.1.1. Deployments & Channel Strength among Early Adopter Verticals
5.1.1.2. Value Proposition
5.1.1.3. 802.11n Value-add features
5.1.1.4. Range of 802.11n product offerings
5.1.1.5. Migration Strategy
5.1.1.6. Planning Tools/ Management
5.1.2. Innovation
5.1.2.1. Handling of video over Wi-Fi
5.1.2.2. Any special antenna features
5.1.2.3. Architectural Benefits for Running 802.11n
5.1.2.4. Resilience & High Availability
5.1.2.5. Scalability
5.2. Cisco is the Channel and Deployment Leader
5.3. Aruba Networks & Meru Networks Emerge as the Overall 802.11n Leaders
5.4. Motorola Leads in Innovation
5.5. Trapeze Networks Leads in Resilience and High Availability
5.6. Colubris has the Most Compelling Value Proposition
5.7. Aruba Offers the Most Value-Add Features
5.7.1. Extricom is a Dark Horse with a Compelling Value Proposition
5.8. Vendors Playing Catch-Up
5.8.1. Hewlett-Packard
5.8.2. Nortel
5.8.3. Apple

Section 6.
MARKET FORECASTS
6.1. 802.11n AP Shipment Forecast by Type (Commercial & Consumer)
6.2. 802.11n AP Revenue Forecast by Type
6.3. 802.11n AP Shipment Forecast by Vertical
6.4. 802.11n AP Revenue Forecast by Vertical
6.5. Wi-Fi Chip Shipment Forecast by Protocol
6.6. Wi-Fi Chip Revenue Forecast by Protocol

Section 7.
COMPANY DIRECTORY

Section 8.
ACRONYMS
SCOPE OF STUDY
SOURCES AND METHODOLOGY
NOTES



Tables
  • Data Rates Versus Actual Throughput for IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n
  • 802.11n Access Point Shipments by Type, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • 802.11n Access Point Revenue by Type, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • 802.11n Access Point Shipments by Vertical Market, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • 802.11n Access Point Revenue by Vertical Market, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Wi-Fi Chip Shipments by Protocol, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • Wi-Fi Chip Revenue by Protocol, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2013

Charts
  • Laptops Shipping with Internal Wi-Fi Internal Adapters, World Market, Forecast: 2008 to 2013
  • 802.11n Access Point Shipments by Type: World Market Forecast 2008-2013
  • 802.11n Access Point Revenue by Type World Market, Forecast 2008-2013
  • Enterprise 802.11n Access Point Shipments by Vertical Market World Market Forecast 2008-2013
  • 802.11n Enterprise Access Point Revenue by Vertical World Market, Forecast 2008-2013
  • Wi-Fi Chip Shipment Forecast by Protocol World Market, Forecast 2008-2013
  • Chart 6.6 Wi-Fi Chip Revenue by Protocol World Market, Forecast 2008-2013