In 1H23, revenues rose 43.3% compared to the first half of 2022, driven by vendors shipping backlogged products. In 2H23, revenues declined 16.6% compared to the same period a year earlier.
Adoption of Wi-Fi 6E, which expands Wi-Fi’s use to include the 6 GHz band of spectrum, continued to grow in 4Q23.
Within the enterprise dependent access point (AP) segment, Wi-Fi 6E revenues grew 11.7% between the third and fourth quarters of 2023 to make up 22.6% of dependent AP quarterly revenues and 10.0% of unit shipments.
Wi-Fi 6 made up most of the remaining dependent AP revenues (72.8%) and unit shipments (77.5%), with the legacy Wi-Fi 5 standard making up the balance.
The consumer segment of the WLAN market declined 12.8% year over year for the full year in 2023 and declined 14.5% in 4Q23.
Wi-Fi 6 made up 64.1% of the consumer market’s revenues, while Wi-Fi 5 made up 26.5% of revenues. Wi-Fi 6E adoption remains nascent in the consumer segment, making up just 6.7% of revenues in 4Q23.
In the US, the enterprise LAN market increased 20.6% year over year for 2023, but declined 25.9% in 4Q23.
In Canada the market rose 14.5% for the full year but fell 32.3% in the fourth quarter.
In China, the market declined 17.5% for the full year and was off 18.0% in 4Q23.
In the broader Asia/Pacific region (excluding Japan & China), the market declined 16.9% in the quarter, but rose 6.2% for the full year.
In EMEA, the market was off 32.1% in the quarter, but rose 1.6% for the full year.
In Latin America, the market was off 15.1% in 4Q23, but rose 25.1% for the full year.
Company Highlights
- Cisco’s enterprise WLAN revenues declined 40.3% year over year in 4Q23, but rose 11.2% for the full year to $4.6 billion. The company’s market share stood at 42.6% for the full year.
- HPE Aruba Networking revenues declined 21.6% year over year in 4Q23 and rose 7.0% for the full year, giving the company market share of 14.6% for 2023.
- Huawei enterprise WLAN revenues declined 0.4% in 4Q23, but rose 13.8% for the full year, giving the company market share of 8.0% for calendar year 2023.
- Ubiquiti enterprise WLAN revenues declined 11.3% in 4Q23 and declined 2.6% for the full year, giving the company market share of 6.1% in 2023.
- CommScope enterprise WLAN revenues declined 33.1% in 4Q23, but rose 23.3% for the full year, giving the company market share of 4.4% in 2023.
- Juniper Networks enterprise WLAN revenues increased 13.2% year over year in 4Q23 and rose 26.6% for the full year, giving the company market was of 4.1% for the full year.
According to Dell’Oro Group WLAN vendors had revenues of $10 billion last year but they contracted sharply in Q4..
“In 4Q 2023, enterprises and distributors were awash with WLAN inventory, contributing to a digestion period–a pause in purchasing while the equipment shipped in the past few quarters is deployed,” says Dell’Oro’s Siân Morgan, “all macro regions across the world saw a contraction in WLAN sales.”
“We are anticipating that this downturn will continue into 2024. Vendors that generate recurring
Average prices fell Y/Y for the first time in over two years–with the notable exception of Controller and License prices, which experienced considerable growth.
The percentage of 4Q 2023 revenues from the sale of Indoor Wi-Fi 6E APs was flat compared to 3Q 2023. Wi-Fi 7 was the only technology generation that grew on a Q/Q revenue basis.
All regions experienced a Y/Y reduction in WLAN revenues, with sales to China contracting the least of all the macro regions.
Revenues from Public Cloud-Managed WLAN contracted Y/Y for a second quarter in a row.