173 Million Wi-Fi Direct-Enabled Devices to Ship in 2011

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Already on the market in small numbers, Wi-Fi Direct is expected to have a break out year in 2011. The number of Wi-Fi Direct-enabled devices shipped will reach 173 million, says In-Stat. Devices shipping with embedded Wi-Fi Direct in 2011 will be led by desktop PCs, digital TVs, mobile phones, and notebook PCs.

Wi-Fi Direct creates a much more powerful Wi-Fi solution, as it enables the premier wireless networking standard to add peer-to-peer capability, with no need for a Wi-Fi access point. This creates a much more compelling standard, a type of one-stop-shop for wireless connectivity, and brings Wi-Fi into competition with specifications such as Bluetooth. And because Wi-Fi Direct is software based, the marginal cost of Wi-Fi Direct-enabled silicon over basic Wi-Fi silicon is negligible.

“Wi-Fi Direct enjoys wide backing from Wi-Fi silicon vendors,” says Brian O’Rourke, Research Director. “Companies such as Atheros, Broadcom, CSR, Intel, Marvell, Qualcomm, Ralink, and Realtek all have plans for widespread release of Wi-Fi Direct-enabled silicon. In fact, many of these companies received Wi-Fi Direct certification for at least one chip solution in the fourth quarter of 2010, shortly after the specification was released by the Wi-Fi Alliance in October. Ultimately though, the key to Wi-Fi Direct’s success will lie in the application programming interface (APIs) software that is developed to make Wi-Fi Direct useful to the consumer.”

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

• Every PC, CE device, and mobile phone that ships in 2014 with Wi-Fi silicon will be Wi-Fi Direct-enabled.
• The Wi-Fi Direct-enabled device shipment compounded annual growth rate will be 79% between 2011 and 2015.

Recent In-Stat research, Wi-Fi Direct: It’s All About the Software (#IN1104983MI), includes annual penetration forecasts through 2015 for Wi-Fi Direct in 21 separate applications in four product segments:

• PCs including: mobile PCs and desktop PCs
• PC Peripherals including: printers & multifunction peripherals, keyboards and mice, USB Wi-Fi adapters, and speakers & audio adapters
• Consumer electronics including: digital televisions, digital still cameras, digital camcorders, digital set top boxes (STBs, streaming media players, portable media players, video game consoles, handheld game consoles, DVD and Blu-ray players and recorders, digital photo frames, and e-readers
• Communications including: mobile phones
• Company profiles including: Atheros, Broadcom, ConnectSoft, CSR, Intel Corp., LG Electronics, Marvell Semiconductor, Ozmo Devices, Qualcomm, Ralink, Realtek Semiconductor, and Wi-Fi Alliance

This research is part of In-Stat’s Multimedia Interface service, which identifies and forecasts the markets for key interface technologies and tracks penetration of these technologies into PCs, PC peripherals, consumer electronics, communications, automotive and industrial applications. It also examines competitors, industry agendas, technology platforms, semiconductor technology and shipments. Supply and demand-side insights are combined to examine these dynamic, evolving technologies.