Untethered Fun: WLAN in Consumer Electronics Consumer Survey

In-Stat/MDR, August 2005, Pages: 45

This report presents the results and analysis of a survey of 640 consumers residing in the US, conducted in June 2005. The survey examined consumers' knowledge of, and attitudes and actions regarding Wi-Fi as a home networking technology in general, and as a means for wirelessly connecting consumer electronics devices in particular. The results demonstrate that while respondents' existing home networks are fairly evenly split between Ethernet and Wi-Fi, future home network deployments are largely planned as Wi-Fi networks. The 640 tech-savvy consumers who participated in the survey still chose data-networking applications over consumer electronics applications as the applications for which they were most interested in using Wi-Fi connectivity.

This report will be particularly useful to product managers and marketing directors in Wi-Fi and consumer electronics equipment and semiconductor vendor companies, financial analysts covering the Wi-Fi and consumer electronics equipment and semiconductor markets, and consultants advising clients in the Wi-Fi and consumer electronics equipment and semiconductor markets.

Findings

The challenges that Wi-Fi faces, in terms of range, bandwidth, security, and Quality-of-Service (QoS), are being addressed by new standards that have either recently been ratified or are set to be ratified over the next several years.

The prevalence of wireless network availability, especially in home networks, makes it increasingly likely that any consumer electronics device would benefit from Wi-Fi connectivity.

More PCs in a respondent's household was positively correlated with a greater likelihood of having heard of Wi-Fi being used in various devices.

Executive Summary
Methodology
Market Overview

Product and Technology Segmentation
- Consumer Electronics Device Segmentation
- Stationary Devices
- Portable Devices
WLAN Air Standard Segmentation
WLAN Background

- WLAN Silicon and Modules
- Power Amplifier
- Radio Frequency Transceiver
- Baseband/MAC
- Modules
- MIMO, Smart Antennas, and the Arrival of 802.11n
- Requirements for Wi-Fi in Consumer Electronics

WLAN Competitive Positioning in Home Networking and Consumer Electronics
- Wired Home Networking Technologies
- Wireless Home Networking Technologies
- Wi-Fi Drivers & Challenges

Consumer Survey Results

Survey Respondent Basic Demographic Profile

- Significant Demographic Factors
- Median Survey Respondent Profile
- Survey Demographic Responses
Consumer Attitudes Toward Wi-Fi Home Networks
Consumer Attitudes Toward Wi-Fi in Consumer Electronics
- Important Considerations for Wi-Fi in Different Device Segments

List of Tables

Table 1. IEEE 802.11 Air Standard Characteristics

Table 2. Which, if any, of the following home networking technology options have you heard of? (Please check all that apply)

Table 3. Which, if any, of the following home networking technologies are currently used in your home? (Please check all that apply)

Table 4. Which, if any, of the following home networking technologies are you considering purchasing for use in your home in the next 12 months? (Please check all that apply)

Table 5. Which, if any, of the following wireless networking technologies have you heard of? (Please check all that apply)

Table 6. Which, if any, of the following wireless networking technologies are currently used in your home? (Please check all that apply)

Table 7. Which, if any, of the following problems do you currently experience with your Wi-Fi/wireless home network? (please check all that apply)

Table 8. Summary of critically rated features of wireless home networking equipment (multiple responses aggregated)

Table 9. Which, if any, of the following devices have you heard of being connected using wireless home networking? (Please check all that apply)

Table 10. Which, if any of the following devices do you think would most benefit from being connected using a wireless home network (i.e., instead of being connected using a wired network)? (Please select no more than 3 devices)

Table 11. Which, if any, of the following devices are connected via your wireless home network? (please check all that apply)

Table 12. Which, if any, of the following do you think are the main benefits of wirelessly networking consumer-electronics devices? (please select the top 3 benefits)

Table 13. Do you believe that wirelessly networking consumer electronics devices (such as...) would be more difficult, less difficult, or roughly the same level of difficulty as wirelessly networking PCs and broadband modems/wireless routers?

Table 14. Summary of critically rated interest for the use of wireless home networking equipment for various applications (multiple responses aggregated)

Table 15. Please indicate what you think the most important consideration would be when connecting the type of device to a wireless home network: Home Broadband Modems/Routers/Gateways/Set Top Boxes (STBs)

Table 16. Please indicate what you think the most important consideration would be when connecting the type of device to a wireless home network: Digital Still Cameras/Camcorders

Table 17. Please indicate what you think the most important consideration would be when connecting the type of device to a wireless home network: Digital Televisions (DTVs)

Table 18. Please indicate what you think the most important consideration would be when connecting the type of device to a wireless home network: Portable Handset Devices: (PDAs)/Cellular Phones/Smart Phones/Handheld Game Consoles/MP3 Players

Table 19. Please indicate what you think the most important consideration would be when connecting the type of device to a wireless home network: DVD Players/Recorders/Personal Video Recorders (e.g. TIVO)

Table 20. Please indicate what you think the most important consideration would be when connecting the type of device to a wireless home network: Video Game Consoles

List of Figures

Figure 1. WLAN Semiconductor Functional Block Diagram

Figure 2. Survey respondent gender

Figure 3. Survey respondent educational level

Figure 4. Survey respondent household income

Figure 5. Size of survey respondent's residence

Figure 6. Survey respondent living environment

Figure 7. Number of individuals living in survey respondent's household

Figure 8. Number of PCs in survey respondent's household

Figure 9. Type of Internet access used by survey respondents

Figure 10. Type of home network used in survey respondents' household

Figure 11. Preferred source for survey respondent wireless equipment

Figure 12. Survey respondent preference for manner in setting up wireless home network

Wi-Fi has traditionally been used as a wireless connectivity technology in residential and business networks. Increasingly, however, semiconductor vendors and consumer electronic equipment manufacturers are planning to use Wi-Fi as a means for consumer electronics connectivity. Vendors are targeting Wi-Fi for use with a range of consumer electronics device segments, including printers, game consoles, digital TVs, DVD recorders and players, set-top boxes, PVRs, handheld game devices, MP3 players, digital still cameras and camcorders, PDAs, and mobile handsets.

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