Wi-Fi Adoption in China Is Gaining Momentum in Enterprise and Home Markets

The enterprise market for Wi-Fi technology in China is expected to increase fourfold, with a 45 percent annual growth rate for the market as a whole, over the next three years according to a new white paper sponsored by the Wi-Fi Alliance. Developed by Chinese research firm Analysys International, the report describes a new wave of Wi-Fi expansion in China, fueled by increased broadband penetration and less expensive Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, bringing Wi-Fi to homes, offices and public spaces. The market for non-embedded Wi-Fi equipment, such as access points and external network cards, is expected to exceed RMB 10 billion by 2008.

"China is already an important strategic market for our industry, and we believe it presents a very attractive growth opportunity in the coming years," said Wi-Fi Alliance Managing Director Frank Hanzlik. "The enterprise networking and voice application segments are particular areas of opportunity, and our Wi-Fi CERTIFIED programs help ensure that Chinese Wi-Fi users have the very best experience with Wi-Fi devices as adoption becomes more widespread."

Among the key findings:

• Some 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and the world's largest population of mobile phone subscribers make China a key long-term market for Wi-Fi-enabled consumer and enterprise devices
• The enterprise segment is adopting Wi-Fi at the fastest rate in China, especially for internal use, and the market for enterprise Wi-Fi equipment is expected to reach four times its current size by 2009
• Chinese telecom operators, who invested heavily in hotspot deployments, are now also focusing on providing home Wi-Fi networks as a value added service to basic broadband access. This new growth will be accelerated by China's current building boom with developers expected to equip homes with Wi-Fi.

"We expect the Wi-Fi market to reach RMB 10.3 billion in 2008," said Analysys International's Vice President of Research Eagle Zhang. "More Wi-Fi products will emerge in 2007, mobile office and mobile entertainment will continue to develop and Wi-Fi Home user market development will speed up."

"Wi-Fi is strongly positioned for indoor coverage. With the expected 3G development in China, operators will pay more attention to promising FMC (Fixed Mobile Convergence) services. Wi-Fi and 3G will be a good choice of China carriers in the initial stage of FMC," Zhang added.

In the rapidly-growing Chinese market, Wi-Fi technology will be complementary to cellular 3G and WiMAX networks. "With its affordability, versatility, and high data rate, Wi-Fi will continue to be an important part of the larger wireless ecosystem in China," said Hanzlik. "Chinese consumers are coming to demand seamless connectivity on devices ranging from laptops to home entertainment gear, and Wi-Fi has a major role to play in keeping all of those devices connected."

The Wi-Fi Alliance has several member companies in mainland China, as well as an authorized test lab in Beijing at the China National Telecommunication Metrology Station, which conducts interoperability testing for all Alliance certification programs.

English and Chinese versions of the white paper, entitled "The Market for Wi-Fi in China: Opportunities, Enablers and Challenges," are available for free download.