Wi-Fi Becomes the Multimedia Interface of Choice for Consumer Entertainment Devices

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Wi-Fi has taken the entertainment device market by storm, with cameras, gaming devices (handheld and consoles), and personal media players (PMPs) incorporating the technology within the past few years, reports In-Stat. Wi-Fi-enabled entertainment device shipments will increase from 108.8 million in 2009 to 177.3 million in 2013.

“While a growing number of entertainment devices have Wi-Fi embedded, most product categories only have a few players–often with a single company dominating the market,” says Victoria Fodale, In-Stat analyst. “For gaming consoles and gaming devices, Nintendo dominates the market, selling 79% of Wi-Fi-enabled consoles and 87% of Wi-Fi-enabled handheld devices in 2009.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

  • Although the Apple iPod Touch clearly has the dominant Wi-Fi-enabled PMP market share , many vendors have offerings in the space including Archos, Chumby Industries, Com One, Commodore International, Cowon, Creative, Dell, Haier, iriver, Logitech, Microsoft, Mintpass, Nokia, Philips, Polaroid, Revo, SanDisk, Sangean, Sirius, Slacker, Sony Corp., Toshiba, and Venzero.
  • Nikon shipped 91% of Wi-Fi-enabled cameras in H1 2009.
  • For the past several years all gaming consoles have had Wi-Fi embedded, which is a trend that will continue throughout the forecast period. The most significant variance in handhelds will be the type of Wi-Fi embedded. Beginning in 2010, these devices will begin shipping with 802.11n, while previously all devices were being shipped with 802.11b.

Recent In-Stat research, Wi-Fi in Entertainment Devices: Wi-Fi Becomes the Multimedia Interface of Choice (#IN0904628WS), covers the worldwide market for entertainment devices with embedded Wi-Fi capability.

This research is part of In-Stat’s Wi-Fi Markets service, which examines new applications for WLAN chips and devices in the business, home, and public sectors. The service covers emerging technology trends, as well as extension technologies like wireless mesh networking and wireless security.

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