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More Education Needed For WLAN In Consumer Electronics To Take Off (24/8/2005)

The results of a new In-Stat (http://email.in-stat.com/cgi-bin4/DM/y/eppH0HWUOK0K560DXuC0El US consumer survey demonstrate that while respondentsā existing home networks are fairly evenly split between Ethernet and Wi-Fi, future home network deployments are largely planned as Wi-Fi networks. The 640 tech-savvy consumers who participated in the survey still chose data-networking applications over consumer electronics applications as the applications for which they were most interested in using Wi-Fi connectivity.

"Consumer electronics vendors have a challenge to educate consumers about Wi-Fi and to overcome the perception that Wi-Fi is simply a data networking technology," says Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst. "Nevertheless, Wi-Fi silicon vendors have fully committed to this market segment, and In-Stat believes the benefits to consumers of Wi-Fi connectivity in consumer electronics devices are significant enough to build a major market segment over the next five years."

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

- The challenges that Wi-Fi faces, in terms of range, bandwidth, security, and Quality-of-Service (QoS), are being addressed by new standards that have either recently been ratified or are set to be ratified over the next several years.

- The prevalence of wireless network availability, especially in home networks, makes it increasingly likely that any consumer electronics device would benefit from Wi-Fi connectivity.

- More PCs in a respondentās household was positively correlated with a greater likelihood of having heard of Wi-Fi being used in various devices.

The report, "Untethered Fun: WLAN in Consumer Electronics Consumer Survey" (#IN0501996WS), covers the results and analysis of a survey conducted in June 2005 of 640 US consumers. The survey examined consumersā knowledge, attitudes and actions regarding Wi-Fi as a home networking technology in general, and as a means for wirelessly connecting consumer electronics devices, in particular. This report is useful for product managers and marketing directors in Wi-Fi and consumer electronics equipment and semiconductor vendor companies, financial analysts covering these markets, and consultants advising clients in these markets.

The report price is $2,995 (US).

www.in-stat.com