Metric: Asia-Pacific WiFi market to grow rapidly

The WiFi market in the Asia-Pacific region will grow to $1.29 billion in 2010, up from $213.2 million in 2004, says a recent In-Stat study. Wireless service providers in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China expanded their hotspot coverage, and they are planning to expand it even more. Still, In-Stat's Bryan Wang points out that WiFi roll out in Asia has been "inconsistent," saying there is a need "for a proven successful business model for WiFi technology to fit into the telcos' existing voice and data services future development road map."

The report estimates that the business WiFi equipment market in Asia-Pacific will grow from $498.7 million in 2004 to $865 million in 2010, and that the consumer WiFi equipment market in Asia-Pacific will grow from $112.3 million to $243.6 million in the same period.

For more on the report on WiFi in Asia-Pacific:
- see In-Stat's press release