Dell’Oro Group figures showed a surge in shipments of Wi-Fi 7 units fed into growth for the broadband access equipment sector in Q4 2024, though did nothing to boost router shipments in a year when the broader market remained flat.
The research company reported Wi-Fi 7 unit shipments rose more than 8,000 per cent year-on-year in Q4 2024, the bulk of which came from what it branded lower-cost dual-band items in China.
But Dell’Oro Group noted overall residential Wi-Fi router shipments were flat, part of a mixed bag for the broadband equipment sector in which movement of passive optical network terminals exceeded 150 million units for the first time with annual growth in “all regions”, but DOCSIS infrastructure spending fell 6 per cent despite gains for DAA and vCMTS platforms.
VP Jeff Heynen said the overall broadband access equipment sector’s performance in 2024 could hamper predictions of growth this year, pointing to “continued high capital and labour costs, global economic uncertainty and DOCSIS infrastructure equipment delays”.
On the plus side, Heynen noted the market returned to “a more consistent, predictable purchasing” pattern in H2 2024, after a first half impacted by “continued inventory corrections from 2023”.
Dell’Oro Group also noted unit shipments of customer premise equipment for 5G FWA services rose 24 per cent in 2024, “as subscribers continue to defect from cable and DSL”.