802.11g Sales Up In Second Quarter, Fuel WLAN Market Growth

Dell'Oro recorded $419 million in total WLAN market revenue, including enterprise and SOHO access points, bridges, broadband gateways and NICs for 802.11b, 802.11g and multimode.

802.11g revenue grew by 48 percent to comprise 24 percent of the total market revenue, while 802.11b revenue declined for the second consecutive quarter, according to Dell'Oro.

The report also found that as more 802.11g products reach the market, vendors are becoming more aggressive in their pricing of 802.11b products. During the second quarter, prices in each 802.11b product category declined by an average of 10 percent, according to Dell'Oro.

Based on total WLAN market shipments, Dell'Oro ranks Cisco Systems as the market leader, followed by Buffalo Technology, Linksys (now a division of Cisco), D-Link and NetGear.

Linksys' market position moved to No. 3 from No. 1 this quarter because of a one-time change in revenue recognition policy following Cisco's purchase of the company, according to Dell'Oro. Prior to this change, the total market would have increased 8 percent on a revenue basis and 15 percent on a unit shipment basis. Similarly, Linksys' total revenue market share would have been 18 percent, placing it in the top position.

The research group expects the WLAN market growth will accelerate during the second half of 2003, with back-to-school purchases boosting sales during the third quarter and holiday purchases boosting sales in the fourth quarter.