Enterprise WLAN market revenue surges 7.6% to $10.8 billion in 2023

The enterprise segment of the worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market saw revenues grow 7.6% year over year in 2023 to $10.8 billion, according to IDC. However, in the fourth quarter of 2023 (4Q23) the enterprise market declined 25.5% year over year as customers implemented a record amount of product inventory.

2023 was a year of two halves in the enterprise WLAN market: In the first half of the year (1H23), enterprise WLAN revenues rose 43.3% compared to the first half of 2022, driven by vendors shipping backlogged products. In the second half of the year, revenues declined 16.6% compared to the same period a year earlier. New product orders slowed in the second half as customers implemented heightened product inventory.

Meanwhile, 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. By standard, Wi-Fi 6 made up 64.1% of the consumer market’s revenues, while Wi-Fi 5 made up just over a quarter (26.5%) of revenues. Wi-Fi 6E adoption remains nascent in the consumer segment, making up just 6.7% of revenues in 4Q23.

“2023 was a dynamic year in the enterprise WLAN market, driven by myriad factors including the effects of the supply chain disruptions, product backlogs, and the shipping of product inventory, combined with a fragile macroeconomic environment,” said Brandon Butler, research manager, Enterprise Networks. “Nonetheless, WLAN remains a critically important technology for organizations across the globe as they build out a future connectedness strategy.”

The enterprise WLAN market had mixed results across the globe. In the United States, the 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 the People’s Republic of 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 Europe, the Middle East & Africa (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.

IDC