Global wireless LAN revenues plunged 27% in the first quarter of this year, as enterprises and distributors digested the large volume of WLAN equipment that was shipped a year ago, said analyst house Dell’Oro.
All regions contracted on a year-on-year basis, with North America experiencing the steepest reduction in revenues.
“While most vendors had sharp contractions in WLAN revenues, Juniper was one of the few companies that expanded its sales on a year-over-year basis,” said Siân Morgan, research director at Dell’Oro Group. “Enterprises may be insecure about equipment roadmaps because of the pending HPE-Juniper acquisition, but it doesn’t appear to be affecting Juniper Mist WLAN sales.”
Morgan added: “The market downturn is also not preventing Huawei from aggressively positioning Wi-Fi 7. In 1Q 2024, the new APs represent a small fraction of overall sales, but Huawei’s focus on portfolio breadth and lower costs is going to mean a head-on battle for customer mindshare in the CALA and EMEA regions.”
