The combined consumer and enterprise wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments fell 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The enterprise WLAN segment achieved 3.1 percent growth to $1.41 billion in Q4, and 7.2 percent to $5.4 billion in 2016.
Strong demand for network refreshes and digital transformation initiatives carried the WLAN market to achieve stronger growth. In 2015, the enterprise WLAN market rose 4.2 percent, said IDC.
According to IDC, the consumer WLAN market grew 3.1 percent and the enterprise segment grew 7.2 percent in 2016.
Consumer WLAN market revenue dipped 4.1 percent to $1.02 billion in Q4 2016 and 2.1 percent to $3.98 billion.
The slower adoption of 802.11ac in the consumer segment, along with 802.11n price erosion is a contributing factor to the declining revenues in consumer WLAN market.
“Digital transformation efforts are continuing to take hold around the world and the market landscape is evolving so that vendors compete more nimbly to address the needs of emerging segments and use cases such as the Internet of Things,” said said Nolan Greene, senior research analyst, Network Infrastructure at IDC.
Cisco’s enterprise WLAN revenue fell 0.2 percent, while market share dipped to 43.6 percent from 43.7 percent in Q3, and 45 percent in Q4 2015.
Cisco’s enterprise WLAN market revenue increased 0.9 percent, while market share fell to 44 percent in 2016 from 46.7 percent for 2015.
Enterprise WLAN market revenue of Aruba-HPE decreased 8.1 percent sequentially. Aruba-HPE’s market share fell to 13.5 percent in Q4 from 14.3 percent in Q3.
Huawei’s enterprise WLAN market revenue increased 55.3 percent over Q4 2015, while increasing share to 6.2 percent from 4.1 percent in Q4 2015. Huawei revenue from enterprise WLAN market revenue increased 77.2 percent over 2015 and recorded a market share of 3.6 percent.
Ubiquiti’s enterprise WLAN market revenue increased 97.2 percent. Ubiquiti increased its WLAN share to 5.2 percent from 2.7 percent. Ubiquiti’s WLAN revenue grew 86.0 percent over 2015 and recorded a market share of 4.5 percent.
WLAN revenue of Brocade-Ruckus declined 20.9 percent, accounting for 5.1 percent of the overall market against 6.7 percent in both Q3 2016 and Q4 2015. Brocade-Ruckus WLAN revenue grew 2.6 percent and recorded a market share of 6.5 percent.
Enterprise WLAN market in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) increased 22.7 percent in Q4 and 21.7 percent in 2016. China’s enterprise WLAN market grew 41.1 percent. Japan’s enterprise WLAN market rose 20.2 percent in Q4 and 3.4 percent in 2016.
The enterprise WLAN market in Middle East and Africa grew 5.9 percent in Q4 and 4.1 percent in 2016 – supported by Egypt, where enterprise WLAN market rose 94.9 percent. Western Europe’s enterprise WLAN market grew 2.1 percent in Q4 and 5.9 percent in 2016, with Norway growing 30.8 percent.
The enterprise WLAN market in Latin America fell 16 percent in Q4 and 7.5 percent in 2016. Chile’s enterprise WLAN market rose 9.4 percent.
