How many mobile devices will have embedded wireless capabilities?

How many mobile devices will have embedded wireless capabilities?

What is your opinion as to the percentage of devices that will be embedded with wireless high-speed data say in 2007? (802.11, 802.16, etc.)

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According to In-Stat/MDR, PDAs with integrated wireless will grow from 15% in 2002 to 75% by 2007. That includes both wireless LANs (802.11) and wireless WANs (GPRS, CDMA2000, etc.) About 16 million laptops shipped with embedded Wi-Fi last year; by 2005, In-Stat predicts that Wi-Fi will be a standard feature in 95% of laptops sold. Other market research firms forecast slightly different numbers, but all seem to agree that wireless interfaces will be pervasive within the next few years, with 802.11 leading the way for high-speed data.

In fact, many market researchers tie growth in business use of Wi-Fi to the presence of embedded adapters in newly-purchased devices. Once workers have Wi-Fi, it's hard to stop them from taking advantage of it at home or on the road. Once they get hooked, there's a grass-roots push to have Wi-Fi access at work. It's less clear whether the same will be true for wireless WANs - 3G services like EDGE are getting faster and more usable, but are often tied to usage-based pricing that tends to discourage casual/personal use. Businesses need to see a clear benefit before they'll foot the bill for high-speed wireless WANs.

This was first published in May 2004

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