WLAN market set to grow 23 per cent in 2010

The WLAN market is set to recover from a blip in 2009

The worldwide enterprise-class wireless LAN (WLAN) market suffered a slight hit in a financially difficult 2009 but is expected to rebound strongly this year, according to research firm IDC.

The market is expected to recover and gain momentum throughout 2010, growing by 23 per cent from the £1.1bn revenue the market garnered in 2009 to £1.4bn in 2010.

According to IDC, enterprises will continue to embrace wireless to increase efficiency and user productivity.

"Unlike other markets that were ravaged by the recession, economic uncertainty and the structural causes of the downturn did not change the fundamental drivers for the growth of wireless in the enterprise," said Rohit Mehra, director of enterprise communications infrastructure at IDC.

"New applications, new devices and new verticals are all contributing to the organic growth of Wi-Fi across all regions."

He added that the proliferation of wireless devices on the network increase both the importance and pervasiveness of the enterprise wireless network, with more customers demanding resilient and scalable wireless network infrastructures.

IDC also claimed that WLAN connectivity is becoming an essential rather than just a nice to have within the enterprise and that the channel for WLANs will continue to be increasingly important as the market goes global.