New research shows that the increasing demand for over-the-top video is creating a boon for Wi-Fi equipment manufacturers, increasing the number of in-home video WLAN-enabled video devices to approach 600 million in 2015.
NPD Group today said home video entertainment devices like digital TVs, Blu-ray players, game consoles and set top boxes are coming to the market Wi-Fi-connected, so the devices can connect to the web and to each other.
And, Wi-Fi is growing from being simply about getting content from a network to devices, to sharing content between devices, as Wi-Fi evolves from being a network-centric connectivity standard to one that enables peer-to-peer connectivity, NPD said.
"Wi-Fi has moved from a nice-to-have feature to a must-have feature as it provides the connectivity necessary to support IP-based video content." says Frank Dickson, VP of research. "New innovations such as Wi-Fi Display and Wi-Fi Direct will fundamentally change the way that content is moved and shared in the home."
Among other findings:
- Digital TVs will reach a 40 percent WLAN-attach rate by 2015;
- In 2014, mobile hotspots will have an 802.11n attach rate of 98 percent;
- Over 28 million WLAN-enabled Blu-ray players will ship in 2013; and,
- The 802.11ac standard will achieve an attach rate in mini-notebooks of 23 percent in 2015.
For more:
- see this release
Related articles:
CES: Next-gen personal Wi-Fi hotspots arrive
Amino launching Intel Atom-powered media gateway
Roku plans 'Streaming Stick' for connected TVs
A chicken in every pot and an Apple TV in every living room