Wi-Fi extender market to grow 16% by 2021

Article By : Technavio Research

Amidst boost in mobile device usage and rise of smart cities, Technavio cites external antennas made over 70% Wi-Fi extender market last year.

Global technology research and advisory company Technavio has forecast the global Wi-Fi extender market to grow at a CAGR of close to 16% by 2021, according to their latest report.

The research study by Technavio on the global Wi-Fi extender market for 2017-2021 provides detailed industry analysis based on the external and internal antennas, standard (802.11n, 802.11ac and 802.11a/b/g) and geography (the Americas, EMEA and APAC).

External antennas constitute the more popular market segment, generating over 70% of the overall revenue, according to 2016 estimates. Their popularity is driven by their portability and the enhanced signal strength that they provide.

 

Figure 1: Technavio’s published report on the global Wi-Fi extender market from 2017-2021.
 

Technavio analysts highlight three factors that are contributing to the growth of the global Wi-Fi extender market:

Increased penetration of mobile computing devices

“Computing devices are used for a variety of purposes ranging from accessing social networking apps to reading news, and from surfing the web to checking e-mails. Also, the increased penetration of the Internet of Things is a key driver of the market,” said Abhishek Sharma, one of the lead analysts at Technavio for M2M and connected devices research.

The ownership of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices is increasing at a fast rate. The adoption of healthcare and protection apps is likewise adding to a new customer demographic to the market. With the advent of cloud infrastructure, the need for physical network infrastructure is diminishing that will further boost the sales for Wi-Fi extenders.

Rise in Internet traffic

The high proliferation of the Internet in business and residential environments, and the increased use of connected devices have greatly boosted the global IP traffic. Majority of the mobile data traffic is generated from applications such as multimedia messaging, text messaging and handset video services. The major increase in Internet traffic is observed from emerging markets in APAC such as India, China and South Korea, where consumers spend a lot of time on the Internet. The rise in Internet traffic has been facilitated by supporting infrastructure such as Wi-Fi extenders that a key driver of the market.

Increase in development of smart cities

“Government organisations worldwide are investing heavily towards the development of smart cities or connected cities. These cities require public Wi-Fi networks to provide various services to consumers such as safety and security, access to education, traffic management and healthcare, which is creating a huge demand for Wi-Fi extenders,” said Abhishek.

Public Wi-Fi networks enable citizens in smart cities to access the Internet with the help of their smartphones and tablets. It also provides location-based services (LBS) to city planners that aids in providing better services to the citizens. This will create a mass demand for Wi-Fi routers and in-turn Wi-Fi extenders, thereby driving market growth.

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