WLAN Market Trends in Q3 2023

In the third quarter of 2023, the enterprise segment of the WLAN market experienced a 5.2% year-over-year decline, amounting to $2.5 billion, as reported by IDC. Similarly, the consumer segment of the WLAN market saw a larger decline of 13.7% year-over-year. 

Wi-Fi Standards Distribution

Wi-Fi 6, the latest standard, comprised 57.9% of the market segment's revenues. Despite the increasing dominance of Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 5 still held a significant share, accounting for 32.4% of market revenues. Notably, Wi-Fi 6E, which extends Wi-Fi into the 6 GHz band, made up a small portion (6.2%) of revenues in the consumer segment, indicating nascent adoption in this market.

Wi-Fi 6E Adoption

The adoption of Wi-Fi 6E continued to gather momentum in the third quarter of 2023, with a 13.0% revenue increase from the previous quarter. This growth led Wi-Fi 6E to represent 20.4% of dependent access point (AP) revenues and 9.6% of the quarter's unit shipments. Meanwhile, Wi-Fi 6 dominated the remaining dependent AP revenues (74.8%) and unit shipments (76.6%), with the legacy Wi-Fi 5 standard making up the remainder.

Regional Market Performance

In the United States, the WLAN market exhibited a modest 1.2% year-over-year increase in the third quarter of 2023. However, the market experienced declines elsewhere, including a 3.9% fall in Canada, a substantial 24.1% decrease in China, and a 12.8% decline in Japan.

These trends underscore the ongoing transition to the latest Wi-Fi standards, with Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E gradually reshaping the WLAN market landscape. Moreover, the regional disparities highlight the varying market dynamics across different global regions.