Trouble For WiFi Equipment Makers?
The Dell'Oro Group has taken a look at the WiFi equipment business and realized that it's not a standalone business. This seems pretty obvious. WiFi is getting built into all sorts of other products, and anyone expecting to focus their business selling WiFi NICs and APs probably isn't going to go that far. The article linked here does explain that, but still has a bit of an alarmist title suggesting that WiFi is a fad (a "speedbump" instead of a "hockey stick"). It's only at the end of the article that they point out actual WiFi usage is expected to rise - and it's just the standalone products that are at risk. The article is like saying "the writing ink business is dying!" and then putting in fine print "because people now by pens with the ink included." The ink is still there, it's just getting purchased in different ways. Same with WiFi.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team