Wi-Fi is becoming an essential feature of mobile phones with 77% of consumers who have it reporting being either completely or very satisfied with their device, according to research today from ABI Research and the Wi-Fi Alliance. Of those who have Wi-Fi on their device, which includes 44% of smartphones today, 74% use it, and 77% will seek it in their next phone as well. ABI expects the number of phones that have Wi-Fi to grow to 90% by 2014, bringing the total shipments of Wi-Fi phones to 520 million, up from an expected 141 million in 2009.
The survey respondents spanned the enterprise and consumer markets as do Wi-Fi-enabled handsets, although not every handset is equipped with the technology yet. ABI’s February survey found that 59% of Wi-Fi phone users have owned their phones for less than a year, and executive director Edgar Figueroa said that Wi-Fi penetration is only around 56% of mobile phones compared to 100% in laptops and mobile gaming devices.
“The smartphone segment is one of the hottest in the mobile industry,” Figueroa said. “It is where Wi-Fi is having its biggest penetration….Between 2009 and 2012, it’s a 49.5% annual growth rate. That is twice the rate of growth that category has as a whole.”
The Wi-Fi Alliance has certified more than 5,000 consumer and enterprise devices since 2000. It expanded its program to include mobile phones in 2004 and, thus far, 311 handsets have made the cut. As a technology, Wi-Fi complements cellular networks where it is available. The number of Wi-Fi hot spots has been growing steadily year-over-year to include the home network and most enterprises, and Wi-Fi remains the only wireless connectivity option that is truly worldwide, Figueroa said.
“The good thing about Wi-Fi, when you look at technologies like [unlicensed mobile access], Wi-Fi can provide both data and other services irrespective of the cellular technology,” he said. “In that case, it’s somewhat future proof and it is complementary.”
