Broadcom Enthusisam for 802.11n Wavers

Written by Adam Gosling

Friday, 07 September 2007

Wireless chip maker Broadcom has downsized its estimates of future 802.11n wireless networking sales and now says the yet-to-be ratified standard is unlikely to replace 802.11g as the mainstream WLAN technology. Speaking to Taiwanese high-tech news site DigiTimes, Michael Hurlston, VP and General Manager of Broadcom's WLAN business unitsays the price differential between the two chips is at the core of the issue, not the the failure by the IEEE Standards process to ratify an agreed set of specifications. Hurlston said the maturity of 802.11g chip manufacturing and the prices now achievable with these is so competitive it will continue to be the mainstream for the industry. According to the report Broadcom originally expected 802.11n to account for about 25 per cent of global WLAN chip sales by the end of 2007, but has revised the ratio downward to 20 per cent due to slower-than-expected sales of 802.11n chips. The market share gap between 802.11n and 802.11g could still narrow but 802.11g chips will continue to hold a 50 per cent share of the global WLAN chip market, said Hurlston. This is despite a high level of acceptance by PC vendors such as HP, Acer and Apple, who have high-end notebook PCs with built-in 802.11n modules already in the market. These high-end devices are swamped in sales volumes by the masses of entry-level and mid-range notebooks flooding the market as consumers and small business take advantage of price points never before possible in mobile computing. To keep the price of these notebooks down, they are normally equipped with an 802.11g module driving demand for the 54Mbps chipsets. Telco's are similarly sensitive to price and prefer to use 802.11g ADSL broadband routers, instead of using 802.11n chips, which are almost double in price compared to the 802.11g parts. Despite current slow sales of 802.11n chips, Broadcom will continue to commit investment in the development of 802.11n parts, as there is still a clear indication in demand for 802.11n applications, mainly from the multimedia segment such as IPTV and IP set-top box (STB), Hurlston told DigiTimes. Related news items Hybrid Drive Boosts Laptop's Skillset -10/10/2007 Sydney Airport Network Improved For APEC -03/09/2007 ASUS A686/696 GPS PDA -23/08/2007 Handset Makers Follow Motorola -16/08/2007 Mobile Apps Worth Billions To Operators -01/08/2007 Older news items D-Link Ships Half A Million Draft N Devices -14/08/2007 Consumer Electronics Takes Interest In 802.11n -12/08/2007 D-Link Boosts Draft N Range -30/07/2007 Boingo Goes Flat On Global Roaming -26/06/2007 Wi-Fi Alliance Begins Draft-N Certification -25/06/2007 Tag This Now: