Taiwan’s wireless network equipment market is expected to continue expanding this year from last year’s vendor revenues of US$66.9 million, the International Data Corp (IDC) said last week.
The projected increase comes on growing handset penetration and the planned launch of fourth-generation (4G) services later this year, the IDC said in a report released on Tuesday.
Moreover, the trend that people are increasingly required to carry their mobile devices or PCs to workplaces — also known as “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) — helps boost demand for wireless network equipment, the market researcher said
“Taiwan’s wireless network equipment market looks promising this year, as the country’s handset penetration rate keeps growing,” IDC analyst Andy Yeh (葉振男) said in the report.
“We expect to see more schools and hotels upgrade their mobile networking equipment this year for faster broadband speed... Telecom operators would also install more mobile hotspots in the country as part of their service improvements.” Yeh said
According to IDC, vendor revenue of wireless network equipment grew 33 percent to US$66.9 million in Taiwan last year from US$50.3 million in 2012, supported largely by increasing demand for consumer products such as gateways, routers and USB dongles.
Sales of consumer products contributed up to 72 percent of the vendor revenue generated last year, while those of commercial ones accounted for the other 28 percent, IDC said.
For this year, demand for wireless routers is projected to stay robust as more people regard their mobile devices as everyday necessities, IDC said.
Due to a falling average selling price, demand for routers with the US’ Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ latest 802.11ac specification is forecast to surpass that for older 802.11n models this year, the market researcher said.
Sales of 802.11ac routers, which provide Internet speeds as fast as 500 to 1,000 megabits per second, compared with a range between 54 to 600 megabits per second with 802.11n models, had been growing and accounted for more than 10 percent of total consumer routers last year, IDC said.
In addition to 802.11ac routers, mobile hotspots and Wi-Fi cable modems are also expected to remain revenue drivers, it said.
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