WLANwill become thenext prevalent connectivity technology in mass-market
mobile handsets, according to new a research
report from Berg Insight.
The Swedish the analyst firm predicts that the number of
handsets with integrated WLAN will grow from 27 million in 2007 to
400 million by 2012, a compound annual growth rate of 71.5%,
corresponding to an attach rate of 25%.
Bergs says that WLAN will likely be used primarily for
high-speed Internet access in home or office networks and file
transfer of media files. “Mobile operators no longer consider WLAN
a threat against data revenues”, said André Malm, telecom analyst,
Berg Insight. “As flat-rate plans for data access become the norm,
encouraging subscribers to use a local Internet connection actually
makes much sense as a way to prevent data overload in mobile
networks.”
However, the analyst warns that firms should have a more
cautious outlook for the adoption of other connectivity
technologies such as NFC and
UWB in mobile handsets. The number of handsets with integrated
NFC or FeliCa is forecasted to grow from 35 million in 2007 at CAGR
of 43.8% to 215 million in 2012, corresponding to an attach rate of
13%.
Moreover, it does not expect UWB to appear in significant
volumes before 2010 and only be featured in 1% of the handsets
shipped in 2012. Berg believes that it has recognised a significant
potential for both technologies but believes that neither of them
have yet become widespread enough to motivate integration in
high-volume handsets. It regards NFC as closest to achieving a
breakthrough, maybe achieved as early as 2010 or 2011.