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Infonetics Paints Rosy Picture for WiMAX Equipment Market

6:00 am on March 12, 2008 | Category: Business, WiMAX, Wireless Technology

The global WiMAX equipment market grew 11% in the fourth quarter of 2007, and 46% for the year as a whole, with cumulative sales of fixed and mobile WiMAX gear reaching almost $800 million, according to a new report by Infonetics Research.

WiMAX-based services have already been deployed in more than 80 countries worldwide, and expansion of the number and size of these networks will continue to grow through 2008 and the coming years, researchers say. Infonetics predicts that the market will generate $7.7 billion annually by 2011.

“Several recent developments are giving a boost to the WiMAX market,” commented Infonetics wireless analyst, Richard Webb. “Among the most significant developments: Cisco’s acquisition of mobile WiMAX vendor Navini Networks, the market entrance of specialist ASN gateway vendor WiChorus, the launch of WiMAX phones and Ultra Mobile PCs, and the new Open WiMAX initiative, which promotes disruptive, all-IP open WiMAX architecture, and should lead to best-of-breed solutions with inter-vendor interoperability.”

Alvarion is currently the world’s leading provider of fixed WiMAX equipment, followed by Airspan, while Motorola leads the mobile WiMAX gear market, ahead of Samsung Electronics.

There were a total of more than 2.2 million WiMAX subscribers at the end of 2007, according to Infonetics, with Asia Pacific countries leading the global market for WiMAX services.

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