The wireless local area network (WLAN) hardware market has recorded its third consecutive quarter of growth, spread across consumer, service provider and enterprise segments.

As detailed by IDC, Q2 reports that while enterprises remained the largest users of wireless infrastructure, the consumer space gained share from enterprise over the year.

Consequently, this means that more consumer wireless routers were sold, thanks to an increased number of devices in households during the period.

Service Provider (SP) WLAN deployments differed between Australian and New Zealand however, with Kiwi SPs embraced 3G/LTE offload via WLAN infrastructure while Australian SPs preferred to rely on available spectrum to support mobile connectivity.

“By end of 2013, the number of tablets and smartphones in ANZ is expected to increase, YoY, by 37% and 6.5% respectively," says Tafadzwa Marasha, Networking Equipment Analyst, IDC ANZ.

"With more than half of all current internet connections established over mobile devices, it is no wonder that wireless infrastructure has flourished this year.

"IDC expects to see this growth trend continue for the next 4 years,”

Marasha also claims that overall, SP contribution to the WLAN market remained minuscule in the region despite having the strongest growth.

Q2 2013 ANZ Wireless Deployment by Segments

ANZ Wireless Deployment    Market Share      QoQ Growth      YoY GrowthEnterprise                                                         61%                          24%                     38%Consumer                                                         38%                         18%                      46%Service Provider                                            1%                            43%                     101%Overall Market                                               100%                      21%                       41%

According to IDC, the most popular use cases which drove an unprecedented need for wireless connectivity in ANZ included social networking, rich media, voice and video communication.

The main verticals which contributed to spending on wireless were government, retail, mining and large public spaces such as stadiums, conference halls and city councils.

Cisco continued to dominate the market, accounting for close to 30% of all ANZ WLAN hardware deployments.

A combination of good products, industry standard certification courses and a legacy pole position in wired networks helped achieve this result.

“Other vendors with comparable offerings in the enterprise market include Aruba, Ruckus, HP, Xirrus, Meru, Motorola and Aerohive, in no particular order,” Marasha adds.

Tech front

On the technology front, 802.11ac – though promising major improvements in speed and connectivity – was moderately received by the market from both supply and demand points of view.

IDC expects to see more 802.11ac compatible access points and end-point devices once the standard has been ratified towards the end of 2013.

The noise around cloud based controllers increased in Q2 2013.

As a result, IDC sees Aerohive, Cisco Meraki, Aruba and Xirrus as the main vendors that have launched products using a cloud managed approach so far, with the rest of the market expected to follow suit in the near future.

The analyst firm also sees significant growth in the use of cloud based controllers as part of a broader ICT industry move towards cloud services.