The whole wide world is going wild for wireless according to a new study which predicts that embedded Wi-Fi chips could end up in almost a billion consumer electronics devices by 2012.
Market research bods In-Stat reckon that more than 294 million consumer electronics devices with Wi-Fi connectivity were shipped in 2007, but calculate that the figure is set to explode, reaching the 1 billion mark by 2012. And as Cilla would say, that’s a lorra lorra Wi-fi.
The wireless technology is proving the biggest hit in mobile handsets and by 2011 dual-mode cell phones are predicted to sail past PCs to become the largest category of Wi-Fi devices.
What’s driving adoption, according to Messrs In-Stat, is falling Wi-Fi hardware prices and improved battery life, making it possible to squeeze Wi-Fi chips into handheld devices like PDAs, internet tablets and smartphones like the Treo Pro, iPhone and numerous Windows Mobile devices.
Although few digital TVs also are currently able to connect to the Internet via Wi-Fi, that’s expected to change in the future too, although it’s got some way to go before it’ll replace the no-fuss, fast’n’simple functionality of the ‘umble Ethernet cable.