US Wi-Fi households to own average of 11 Wi-Fi devices in 2017

Wi-Fi capability now embedded in 68 percent of all Consumer Electronics devices sold in the USA, 57 percent globally

BOSTON, MA — Global shipments for Wi-Fi enabled Consumer Electronics devices grew 19 percent year-over-year to reach 1.9 billion units in 2013 according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics Connected Home Devices (CHD) service report, ‘Embedded WLAN (Wi-Fi) CE Devices: Global Market Forecast.’

• 4 billion Wi-Fi enabled consumer electronics devices are now in use across the world resulting in an average of 7 Wi-Fi devices for every Wi-Fi household. By 2017 over 7 billion devices will be in use globally.

• Wi-Fi enabled cell phones and tablets accounted for a combined 59 percent of all Wi-Fi enabled CE device shipments in 2013 with mobile PCs the next largest category at 9 percent of shipments.

• Moving forward, key growth markets for integrated Wi-Fi include digital cameras, wireless audio speakers, Smart TVs, and Digital Video Recorders.

• The 802.11n Wi-Fi standard is now the baseline for low cost Wi-Fi, accounting for 84 percent of global Wi-Fi device shipments in 2013. The recently finalized 802.11ac standard is gaining traction in mobile PCs and smartphones and will start to move mainstream from 2015.

David Watkins, Director, Connected Home Devices said: “Wi-Fi is now the key connectivity backbone for the distribution of digital audio and video content in the home and with the new 802.11ac standard, households will be armed with the necessary technology to support the ever growing number of IP video hungry devices.”

Eric Smith, Analyst, Connected Home Devices commented: “Wi-Fi offers consumers the convenience of a straight out of the box connectivity solution for devices such as TVs and Blu-ray players, removing the hassle of hardwiring a device to the router or worse – running unsightly cables across the living room.”

1. Strategy Analytics defines Wi-Fi Households as those households owning a Wi-Fi router.