Global Wi-Fi chip sales surge

Fuelled by spiralling demand for consumer and mobile devices, global sales of wireless Lan semiconductors will surge to 487 million units by 2009, newly published research has predicted.

IDC forecasts revenue to increase from $1.2bn in 2004 to $3bn by 2009, representing a 21 per cent compound annual growth rate.

"Increased competition and advanced chip integration will continue to create intense pricing pressure in the wireless Lan market. But opportunities still exist for vendors to differentiate themselves from the pack," said Celeste Crystal, senior research analyst at IDC.

"Low power consumption as a result of single-chip designs, increasingly robust quality of service mechanisms, and the role of wireless Lans in consumer VoIP all provide opportunities to build loyalty."

According to the IDC research , wireless Lan chip suppliers will play a vital role in accelerating the adoption of features in high volume consumer device segments such as gaming consoles, set-top boxes and digital TVs.

The analyst firm also predicts that the adoption of Wi-Fi in future mobile phone designs will offer "significant opportunities for growth".

The IDC report found that Broadcom came in first place in the wireless Lan semiconductors market after year-over-year growth of 44 per cent.

Atheros grabbed the second spot with a 95 per cent year-over-year growth, Intel held onto its third place, while Conexant/GlobespanVirata came in fourth.