RAN, WLAN, WiMAX, Wireless Mesh Equipment Sales All Up in 3Q06"

The worldwide move toward greater mobility continues, says Infonetics Research in three recent reports tracking the radio access network, WiMAX/outdoor mesh network, and wireless LAN equipment markets.

According to the reports, worldwide RAN equipment sales rose 9% to $ $9.58 billion between 2Q06 and 3Q06; wireless LAN equipment sales increased 19% to $780.03 million; WiMAX equipment sales shot up 23% to $173.53 million; and outdoor mesh equipment sales jumped 38% to $121.40 million.

"The range of licensed and unlicensed wireless broadband and mobile technologies now available leads to some interesting opportunities for operators, but also some potentially disruptive challenges to existing business models," said Infonetics Research analyst Richard Webb. "All operators are looking at fixed-mobile convergence, but there are now several ways they can get there," he added. "Whilst personal mobile broadband is still some way off, we can see the pieces of the jigsaw starting to come together."

RAN Equipment Highlights

• Worldwide RAN equipment sales are forecast to reach $35.86 billion in 2009
• The number of mobile subscribers is forecast to grow to 3.39 billion worldwide in 2009, a 5-year CAGR of 14%
• Ericsson maintains the #1 position for overall RAN equipment revenue market share in 3Q06, ahead of Nokia, Siemens, and Nortel
• Base transceiver stations (BTSs) accounts for 65% of total RAN equipment revenue in 3Q06, base station controllers (BSCs) for 35%
• GSM/GPRS/EDGE equipment accounts for 49% of worldwide RAN equipment revenue in 3Q06, CDMA/EV-DO/EV-DV RAN for 13%, and W-CDMA/ UMTS RAN for 38%
• Asia Pacific accounts for 38% of RAN equipment revenue, EMEA for 35%, North America 15%, and CALA 12% in 3Q06

Wireless LAN Equipment Highlights

• Annual worldwide WLAN equipment sales are forecast to reach $3. 82 billion in 2009
• In 3Q06, enterprise products made up 48% of WLAN equipment revenue, residential products 44%, and service provider products 8%
• Cisco maintains its leadership in the fast-growing enterprise WLAN equipment segment in 3Q06; Aruba, Symbol, and Trapeze follow
• Linksys retained the #1 spot in residential WLAN equipment sales, followed by NETGEAR and D-Link
• North America accounts for 46% of all WLAN equipment revenue in 3Q06, EMEA for 29%, Asia Pacific 20%, and CALA 5%

WiMAX and Outdoor Mesh Network Equipment Highlights

• Worldwide WiMAX equipment revenues are forecast to reach $3.26 billion in 2009
• Worldwide outdoor wireless mesh access node sales are forecast to reach $1.17 billion in 2009
• Samsung leads overall WiMAX equipment revenue share in 3Q06, ahead of Alvarion, Airspan, and Aperto Networks
• Strix Systems leads overall outdoor mesh revenue market share in 3Q06, just ahead of Tropos Networks and BelAir Networks
• 35% of WiMAX equipment sales come from Asia Pacific, 30% from EMEA, 20% from North America, and 14% from CALA
• 49% of wireless mesh access node sales come from North America, 25% from EMEA, 18% from Asia Pacific, and 8% from CALA

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Posted to the site on 4th December 2006