With some 300 million chipsets expected to be sold in 2007, can there be any doubt of the growing ubiquity of Wi-Fi? Sales grew about 41 percent over 2006 when 213 million chipsets were sold. By 2011, marketing firm In-Stat expects that some 700 million devices will ship with Wi-Fi on board.
An ever growing list of products now come with Wi-Fi capabilities. Notebooks pretty much dominate the list right now but mobile devices, gaming devices, music players, and other electronic devices are rapidly adopting Wi-Fi as well. By 2011, Wi-Fi-enabled consumer electronics and mobile phones are expected to out-ship notebook computers.
The certification of 802.11n draft 2.0 is also expected to contribute to this growth as Wi-Fi will extend its reach to include more connected home applications, including home theater, audio, gaming and computing systems. The wired home and world are making way to the wireless home and world.