Infonetics Research predicts a solid future for the worldwide Wi-Fi VoIP handset market, whose revenue came to $45 million in 2004 and is expected to keep growing through 2009.
The consulting firm’s latest report, Wi-Fi Phones Annual Worldwide Market Size and Forecast, projects revenue and units to show strong growth through 2009 as enterprises slowly but steadily continue to deploy VoWLAN.
The numbers of handsets sold in 2004 totaled 113,000, the group says.
Worldwide dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handset revenue hit $6.6 million in 2004, and units totaled more than 8,000, the report said. Units only were commercially available in the fourth quarter of 2004, so the numbers represent a market at its birth. Infonetics says it expects revenue and units to grow dramatically by 2009 as enterprises offer employees flexible mobile access over different forms of wireless networks.
Infonetics says Wi-Fi VoIP handsets make up a fairly small market, but one that holds great potential across several market segments. The first segment is enterprises and healthcare verticals, where Infonetics says VoWLAN already is gaining momentum but will become more widespread as both VoIP and wireless LAN adoption continue.
The second is the consumer space, as broadband service providers offer both VoIP services and wireless gateways bundled with a broadband connection, Infonetics says.
Third, as prices decrease, more dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets will reach the market, enabling enterprise users and consumers to roam across wireless home networks, the corporate wireless LAN and public Wi-Fi hotspots, the firm notes.
"Wi-Fi capability will eventually become a common feature in cell phones, just as it is becoming standard in laptops today, giving mobile operators a big opportunity with Wi-Fi voice," says Richard Webb, directing analyst for Infonetics and author of the report. "But voice-over-wireless-Internet devices have the potential to be a hugely disruptive technology, too. One big factor is the low cost of calling, especially long-distance, overseas and during peak hours. The traditional model of time and distance-based pricing for voice calls will be eroded by VoIP, and as VoIP goes wireless, this will present a challenge not only to fixed-line operators, but to mobile operators as well."
Webb says there are technical issues to be worked out before wireless Internet calling becomes viable commercially, including quality of service, roaming across different wireless platforms and the short range of Wi-Fi signals. “But with vendors currently working toward standards to address these challenges, it is likely we will be at the foot of the adoption bell-curve by mid-2006," Webb predicts.
