January 10, 2011

While consumers’ hopes for certain futuristic technologies have not yet come to fruition, they have embraced other technologies they never anticipated would become commonplace, such as Wi-Fi. That according to a new poll conducted by Wakefield Research in conjunction with the Wi-Fi Alliance.

The poll shows that consumer appetite for Wi-Fi-enabled gadgets has expanded in the last two years, and analyst reports indicate sales momentum is expected to continue over the next several years.

“Wi-Fi technology unleashes our imagination, and we have only begun to
see the countless ways in which it will evolve,” said Edgar Figueroa,
CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance. “Our industry continues to innovate to keep
pace with the connectivity requirements of a wide range of applications
and, consequently, the next few years will see significant expansions in
Wi-Fi performance capabilities and ease of use.”

Two-year consumer preference tracking data from the Wi-Fi Alliance poll
illustrates growing demand for Wi-Fi technology in a variety of devices.
62% of respondents said they will make sure their next cell phone is
Wi-Fi-enabled, up from 43% in December 2008. 65% of respondents said it
is likely they will seek Wi-Fi capability in every tech item they buy in
2011.

ABI Research reports that, in 2010, Wi-Fi shipments grew to 761 million
products—a 29% increase from 2009. Growth in Wi-Fi-enabled products is
also reflected in the continued increase of Wi-Fi device certifications.
In 2010, the highest-volume year ever for Wi-Fi Alliance
certifications, 62% more devices were Wi-Fi Certified than in 2009.

“Devices such as cellular handsets, netbooks, TVs and portable music
players saw the largest increase in Wi-Fi technology inclusion in 2010,”
said Philip Solis, research director for mobile devices at ABI
Research. “We estimate that Wi-Fi device shipments will continue to rise
globally, surpassing two billion by 2015.”

The alliance says the Wi-Fi industry has its sights set on increasing
Wi-Fi throughput and range, with upcoming certification programs for
Wi-Fi in the 60 GHz frequency band and Very High Throughput (VHT) Wi-Fi
in 5 GHz.

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