WiMAX, so the people behind it would have us believe, will emerge as one of two candidate mobile broadband technologies that will be a key enabler for tomorrow's mobile computing professionals.
However a new survey by Infonetics Research, has found that sales of fixed and mobile WiMAX equipment and phones/Ultra Mobile PCs dropped 21% to $245 million in 3Q08 from 2Q08. Worryingly sales are expected to continue to fall throughout 2009.
This could not come at a worse time for those behind the WiMAX mobile broadband standard who have been under increasing pressure from firms developing technology based on other standards to support future mobile computing applications.
Looking at market conditions, Infonetics expects the global recession to cause some consumers and enterprises to postpone WiMAX adoption but argues that demand for personal broadband services will still likely continue to grow.
It predicts that the number of worldwide fixed and mobile WiMAX subscribers will exceed 76 million in 2011, as demand, albeit slower, will continue through the recession.
And this demand will be mobile-based. Ffixed WiMAX had actually flattened prior to the real economic downturn and .all the action is with mobile WiMAX spending which now makes up almost three-quarters of worldwide WiMAX equipment sales.
And in what could be the first sign of a growing trend, leading WiMAX provider leader Alvarion has embarked upon a programme to migrate its customer base from fixed to mobile.
