Total Wi-Fi® device shipments to surpass ten billion this month

New online tool helps consumers find Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ products for home, work, mobility, and more

Las Vegas, NV, January 5, 2015 - With Wi-Fi^® sales set to pass the ten billion unit mark in January 2015, Wi-Fi Alliance^® has introduced a new tool to make it easier for consumers to find products that deliver the great experience synonymous with Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™ Product Finder makes it easy to find products that have passed rigorous testing and meet the interoperability, security, and technology benchmarks required to carry the iconic Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo. Users can search by device type and advanced Wi-Fi capabilities such as Passpoint™, Miracast^®, and Wi-Fi Direct^®.

The launch of the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED Product Finder coincides with the significant milestone for the industry, which is expected continue to grow at an annual rate of ten percent for the next five years. ABI Research, which has tracked Wi-Fi shipments since the industry’s inception, indicates that at the end of 2014, 9.98 billion Wi-Fi devices had been sold worldwide and that about 4.5 billion Wi-Fi products are in use today.

“We’ve watched the Wi-Fi industry continue to grow at an impressive pace throughout its history, and it’s not showing any signs of slowing down,” said research director Phil Solis, ABI Research. “We expect strong growth to continue, because of the many Wi-Fi technology advancements ahead and new categories such as automotive, smart home, and industrial IoT, where Wi-Fi will play a big role.”

ABI estimates that more than 2.3 billion Wi-Fi devices were sold in 2014 with mobile phones, tablets, and e-readers comprising 64 percent of shipments. Of Wi-Fi devices shipped in 2014, 46 percent included Wi-Fi Direct for device-to-device connectivity.

“With 6.5 million Wi-Fi devices shipping every day, the Product Finder makes it easy for business users and consumers alike to find what they need,” said Kelly Davis-Felner, VP of marketing for Wi-Fi Alliance. “Naturally, the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED logo and the user experience it symbolizes has been fundamental to the technology’s market success, and we’re pleased to make it easier for consumers to find terrific Wi-Fi CERTIFIED products.”

The industry’s growth has been closely paralleled by growth of Wi-Fi Alliance certification programs. More than 23,000 products have completed Wi-Fi certification since March of 2000, and new product categories in automotive, smart home, and wearables have begun to emerge in the product certification traffic. Consumers today choose from among a broad range of brands when purchasing Wi-Fi products, making the new Product Finder an indispensable tool in the shopping process. Visit the finder at www.wi-fi.org/product-finder.

About Wi-Fi Alliance^®
www.wi-fi.org
Wi-Fi Alliance^® is a global non-profit industry association – our members are the worldwide network of companies that brings you Wi-Fi^®. The members of our collaboration forum come from across the Wi-Fi ecosystem and share a common vision of connecting everyone and everything, everywhere. Since 2000, the Wi-Fi CERTIFIED^™ seal of approval designates products with proven interoperability, industry-standard security protections, and the latest technology. Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 23,000 products, delivering the best user experience and encouraging the expanded use of Wi-Fi products and services in new and established markets. Today, billions of
Wi-Fi products carry a significant portion of the world’s data traffic in an ever-expanding variety of applications.