Infonetics Research has released data that the worldwide WiFi phone market increased 116% between 2004 and 2005 to 125.5 million USD. Infonetics projects WiFi phone revenue to more or less double, and even nearly triple, every year through 2009 to reach $3.7 billion USD, as VoWLAN moves from being predominantly an enterprise solution and into the mass market.
“But the real growth will come from dual-mode WiFi/cellular handsets,” Webb continued. “With the increased activity from both fixed and mobile operators to deliver dual-mode services to the mass market, often as part of a more far-reaching fixed-mobile convergence strategy, the long-term forecast for dual-mode WiFi/cellular handsets is strong, assuming these handsets come down in price to sub-100 dollars or euros.”
