Infonetics Research said the WiMAX market is coming out of the recession, posting three consecutive quarters of revenue growth for 802.16e equipment and devices.
"With Clearwire in the U.S. announcing strong quarterly results, Yota in Russia expanding rapidly, and others such as UQ in Japan being aggressive, the WiMAX business model seems to be working," noted Richard Webb, the firm's directing analyst for WiMAX. "Though we are still in the early days, WiMAX is proving to be a good fit in a range of broadband segments in developed as well as developing markets."
Infonetics reported that worldwide vendor revenue from 802.16d and 802.16e WiMAX network equipment and devices hit $1.08 billion in 2009, down 19 percent from 2008, as the market suffered the effects of the recession. however, the fourth quarter of 2009 was the third consecutive quarter of WiMAX equipment and device growth, which grew 3 percent between the third and fourth quarter in 2009.
Infonetics also indicated that quarterly revenue levels remain short of the pre-recession market highs of the more than $300 million in early 2008.
Other highlights include:
- Starting in 2011-2012, 802.16m WiMAX products are expected to be tested, certified, and commercially available, offering speeds comparable to LTE;
- For the combined WiMAX equipment and device market, Motorola took the top spot in 2009, with 17 percent of worldwide revenue, just ahead of Alvarion;
- Huawei showed the biggest growth in WiMAX equipment and device market share in 2009;
- The number of WiMAX subscribers increased 75 percent in 2009 to 6.8 million worldwide.
For more:
- see this Infonetics release
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