Partnerships Playing a Vital Role for All Vendors in the VoWi-Fi Market
Voice over Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi) market trends are "moving the goalposts" for Wi-Fi equipment makers, which will result in winners and losers across the industry. Because no one vendor owns all the intellectual property required for a complete solution, the winners will be those vendors able to forge effective partnerships, rather than employing mere joint marketing announcements.
ABI Research has found that key ecosystem partnerships include close working relationships with PBX manufacturers, fixed mobile convergence players such as DiVitas Networks and Agito Networks, and handset manufacturers such as Nokia and Motorola.
A partner's product must have some degree of integration with VoWi-Fi equipment to be a part of the VoWi-Fi ecosystem. The strength of a VoWi-Fi equipment vendor's overall solution is directly proportional to the strength of its VoWi-Fi ecosystem partners.
Stan Schatt, ABI Research vice president and research director, says, "In some cases, vendors who sell their own IP PBXs and VoWi-Fi equipment are going to be limited to their own installed bases; competitors are not willing to cooperate to extend interoperability."
The overall VoWi-Fi market will grow significantly through 2012. ABI Research forecasts that the number of access points used to handle voice traffic will experience a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 93% during this period, reaching nearly 56,000 access points by 2012. North America is the market leader at this time, but European sales are growing rapidly. By 2012, revenue associated with access points used for VoWi-Fi traffic will exceed $12 million.
Posted to the site on 26th February 2008