Wi-Fi: According to Cellular New, Worldwide Wi-Fi deployments reached a total of 4.2 million hotspots in 2013, which will continue to grow at 15{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} CAGR (2013-18) to exceed 10.5 million. Of which, Asia Pacific region has 68{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} of total hotspots, followed by 12{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} in LATNAM, 9{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} Europe & 8{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} are deployed at North America. In Asia Pacific, China alone has 620,000 hotspots, while in LATNAM Brazil has completed the target of 500,000 hotspots in Dec 2013, well before 2014 FIFA World Cup.
Small Cells: According to ABI research, deployment of Outdoor Small Cells indicates a healthy Y-o-Y growth of 33{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3}, reaching revenue to $1.8 billion worldwide. In 2014, 4G Small Cells are the fastest growing Small Cells type in terms of deployments.
Femtocells: Enterprise Femtocells will capture 97{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} of $4.3 billion market revenue in 2019, outpacing consumer-residential Femtocells, reports ABI research. As Femtocells are successful in residential segment, Opco are excited to tap, enterprise segment market, especially SME segment, where there’s clear business case for such Femtocells.
Snapdragaon 810 with 2 Stream MIMO :Recently Qualcomm announced the highest-performing chip in its product portfolio so far, the Snapdragon 810. The chip is designed to support the most advanced technologies out there, including support for 4K display, advanced image processing, LPDDR4 RAM, 64-bit processing, Cat 6 LTE-Advanced, and RF360 RF front-end solution, enabling broadband speed of up to 300 Mbps and 802.11ac with 2-stream multi-user MIMO. The chip will integrate the latest version of the company’s GPU, Adreno 430, which is 80{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} faster and around 40{af589cdba9d77786c8c861317dbad60bba1e2ebbf56e2ffab874a1b59fde9ce3} more power efficient than the version shipping in the current commercial devices (i.e., Adreno 330). The chip will also be among the first to use 20-nanometer technology, which will further help in reducing overall power consumption and shrinking the physical footprint compared with the current chips built on 28 nm silicon. This is great news for the smartphone market because the chip could take the performance of next generation smartphones to unprecedented levels. What comes as a surprise is that Qualcomm has opted for ARM CPU architecture instead of using its own Krait for powering this chip. Qualcomm has traditionally used its in-house CPU platform (e.g., Scorpion and Krait) as the foundation platform for processor differentiation, product customization, and for bringing innovation in the high-end segment of the market.
WiFi Gig: With over 2.6 billion chipsets expected to ship during 2014, Wi-Fi is currently the most ubiquitous wireless connectivity technology for Internet access. As the technology continues to adapt and expand with new protocols such as 802.11ac, 802.11ax, 802.11ad (WiGig), and Wi-Fi Direct, nearly 18 billion more chips will ship cumulatively from 2015 to 2019. Wi-Fi protocols will continue evolving as well. By the end of the forecast period, dual-band 802.11n/802.11ac will comprise the vast majority of chipsets shipped among all the protocols. Dual-band 802.11n/802.11ac had a strong start in 2013 by surpassing 100 million shipments in the smartphone space alone, which accounted for a sizable fraction of the total shipped that year. There will be a strong ramp of tri-band 802.11n/802.11ac/802.11ad during the next five years as well. Wi-Fi Direct-enabled products will surpass three billion shipped in 2019 with the highest attach rates in ultraportable PCs media tablets, and traditional laptops. However, the largest category of Wi-Fi Direct-enabled products in terms of units shipped in 2019 will be smartphones.
