Infonetics' report, Wireless LAN Equipment and Phones, forecasts worldwide wireless LAN equipment manufacturer revenue to end the year up 5% in 2008 but to fall in the double digits in 2009 as the global recession deepens and enterprises and WiFi service providers feel the effects of the downturn.

Because wireless LAN technology is fundamentally useful to a wide user base, the decline in 2009 will not be prolonged, with revenue growth returning by 2010-2011, as end-user demand for future WAN protocols sustains market growth over the long term, the report contends. The now-accelerating adoption of 802.11n is a good example of this, as shown by the increasing number of notebooks and PDAs embedded with 802.11n.

Recent merger and acquisition activity is another sign that wired and wireless LAN convergence is accelerating.

"There have been a couple of significant acquisitions in the wireless LAN space recently, including Belden Networks' acquisition of Trapeze Networks, and ProCurve's acquisition of Colubris. It remains to be seen whether Aruba, the highest performing of the wireless LAN switch startups, will continue to go solo or be an acquisition target. This M&A activity shows that wireless LAN has become a more integrated part of the overall LAN environment, and that wired/wireless LAN platform convergence is accelerating, driven by enterprise demand for unified communications and FMC applications," said Richard Webb , directing analyst for wireless at Infonetics Research.

Other highlights from the report:

• Cisco continues to dominate the worldwide wireless LAN equipment market, holding the #1 position in enterprise and service provider segments, with 56% overall market share
• Aruba is solidly in second position for worldwide WLAN revenue share, followed by Motorola
• The worldwide enterprise single mode WiFi phone market is up 6% in 3Q08
• Polycom and Cisco are neck and neck in the race for WiFi phone unit share, but Polycom still leads in revenue by a long shot

Keywords: wireless lan infrastructure, wireless lan equipment, wireless lan technology, acquisition target, merger and acquisition, infonetics research, global recession, wan protocols, lan switch, infrastructure market, double digits, Wireless Access Points