CES: Converged devices drive WiFi chipset growth

LAS VEGAS – WiFi chipset sales jumped 26% in 2008 to 387 million, according to statistics released Wednesday by the Wi-Fi Alliance and In-Stat. The growth was driven by demand from both the consumer and enterprise segments for a range of WiFi-enabled devices, including smartphones, mini notebooks and consumer electronic devices. Driven by the integration of entertainment and productivity in one device, all these segments saw an increase in sales in 2008 – momentum that the Wi-Fi Alliance expects to continue despite an economic downturn.

“We were definitely seeing a shift, and analysts we’ve spoken to recently confirmed this, that products are converging around entertainment and productivity in a single device,” said Kelly Davis-Felner, marketing director for the Wi-Fi Alliance. “Eighty-five percent of people polled said that the technology products they planned to purchase in 2009 would be primarily for entertainment versus work, and only one in four planned to focus on products that were price-reduced. The economy is having a little of an impact, but not the rainy-day scenario we’re all worried about happening.”

WiFi has become fundamental to virtually any entertainment device now, Davis-Felner said. Spending on WiFi-enabled products no longer appears to be discretionary as it once was. The big propellers of growth – converged WiFi cellular handsets, portable consumer electronics and stationary CE devices – were exactly what the Wi-Fi Alliance expected, she added. For 2009, the Wi-Fi Alliance and In-Stat expect the momentum to continue from cellular WiFi handsets, portable CEs, home networking and mobile PCs in particular. All handheld gaming devices shipped in 2009 will have WiFi as well.

The Wi-Fi Alliance, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting widespread WiFi adoption, has been certifying products based on the draft 802.11n WiFi standard for almost two years. To date, it has certified more than 500 products with more than half of the mobile PCs shipped in 2008 supporting the standard. Davis-Felner said it plans to align the certification program with a final standard when it’s ratified come 2010.

“The draft is becoming the de-facto standard,” she said. “The products are shipping in very large volume now, and adoption is accelerating quite a bit. Draft-based products are here and now and very well established and proven.”