In the period, the consumer segment of the WLAN market fell 13.7% year on year. WiFi 6 accounted for 57.9% of market revenue, whereas WiFi 5 accounted for 32.4%.

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly WLAN Tracker, the enterprise segment of the global wireless local area network (WLAN) market decreased 5.2% year on year to $2,5 billion in the third quarter of 2023 (Q3).

In the most recent quarter, IDC says organisations throughout the world have been taking their time to deploy the large volume of product that has been supplied in prior quarters, resulting in decreased growth rates, which is projected to continue in the future quarter.

At the same time, adoption of Wi-Fi 6E, the newest WLAN standard that increases WiFi's use to include the 6 GHz band of spectrum, increased in 3Q 2023.

WiFi 6E revenue increased 13% between the second and third quarters, accounting for 20.4% of dependent access point (AP) revenue and 9.6% of unit shipments. WiFi 6 accounted for the majority of the remaining dependent AP revenues (74.8%) and unit shipments (76.6%), with the legacy WiFi 5 standard accounting for the remainder.

In 3Q23, the consumer segment of the WLAN market fell 13.7% year on year. WiFi 6 accounted for 57.9% of market revenue, whereas WiFi 5 accounted for 32.4%. WiFi 6E penetration remains fledgling in the consumer category, accounting for only 6.2% of revenues.

"The third quarter of 2023 marked a shift in the multi-year dynamics of the WLAN industry related to supply chain disruptions, product backlogs, and now, with product availability increasing, a period where organisations across the globe are deploying WLAN products before placing new orders," says Brandon Butler, research manager, Enterprise Networks, at IDC.

"Nonetheless, WLAN remains an important technology for organisations and enhancements like the continued adoption of WiFi 6E continue to drive the WLAN market forward."

Across the globe, the enterprise WLAN industry produced mixed outcomes.

In 3Q23, the market in the United States climbed by 1.2% year on year, while the market in Canada decreased by 3.9%. In Latin America, the market increased by 235%. The market fell 11.2% in Western Europe and 6.7% in Central and Eastern Europe.

Market revenue increased by 7.5% in the Middle East and Africa area. The market declined 0.6% in the Asia/Pacific area, excluding Japan and China. The market plunged 24.1% in the People's Republic of China and 12.8% in Japan.

• Cisco's enterprise WLAN revenue climbed 3.5% year on year in 3Q23 to $1,08 billion. At the end of the quarter, the company's market share was 43,4%.

• HPE Aruba Networking revenues fell 25.7% year on year in 3Q23, giving the business a 12% market share in the quarter.

• Huawei enterprise WLAN revenues increased by 12.4% year on year in 3Q23, giving the company a market share of 7.2%.

• Ubiquiti enterprise WLAN revenue fell 15.6%, giving the business a 6.4% market share.

• CommScope enterprise WLAN revenues climbed 19,1% year on year in the third quarter, giving the business a market share of 5,1%.

• Juniper Networks' enterprise WLAN revenues climbed 18.7% year on year, giving the business a 4.5% market share