The value of the WiMax equipment market nearly
quadrupled between 2005 and 2006, with worldwide revenue jumping
286% to $549.2m (£289m), according to analyst
Infonetics Research.
WiMax posted a strong fourth quarter as well, with fixed WiMax
topping $180.7m (up 39% from the previous quarter), and the nascent
mobile WiMax market hitting $45.8m, bringing total WiMax sales to
$226.5m for the fourth quarter of 2006.
"Last year was a landmark year for the WiMax industry, with
service provider trials moving to service launch phase in many
areas, fixed WiMax deployments accelerating rapidly in developing
countries, and mobile WiMax products coming to market for the first
time,” said Infonetics analyst Richard Webb.
“The mobile WiMax market in particular is showing signs of a
healthy future, with the infrastructure, components and handset
ecosystem now coming together, boosted by the significant roll-out
announcement by Sprint-Nextel in the US last year,” he added.
With new suppliers like Cisco entering the market, the small but
rapidly growing outdoor wireless mesh access node segment also had
a good year, posting 257% growth in 2006 to reach $392.1m.
Applications are broadening beyond cities, pushing demand for
wireless access nodes. High double-and triple-digit unit shipment
growth rates are expected through to 2010, according to
Infonetics.
Infonetics said the worldwide WiMax equipment market was
forecast to increase more than 10-fold between 2006 and 2010, when
it would reach $5.6bn (£2.94bn).
Mobile WiMax would grow to $3.7bn in 2010, the analyst said.
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