ABI Research is bullish on Wi-Fi 7 and related mesh networking, but the market research firm notes that significant questions remain.

Several events have converged to lead the firm to predict more than 16 million Wi-Fi 7 chipsets will ship this year and that almost 500 million will ship in 2026. ABI says that a related maturing of mesh Wi-Fi network also will occur, with revenue experiencing a 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between last year and 2026. Revenue will increase from $2.9 billion to $4.6 billion.

Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi Mesh Forecast

ABI’s “Residential Wi-Fi and Wireless Infrastructure Update” says that Wi-Fi 7 has arrived more quickly than expected. Early this year, Qualcomm unveiled the first Wi-Fi 7 chipset and Broadcom followed with an entire ecosystem.

All of this activity is unleashing new Wi-Fi value added services, including Wi-Fi motion detection. ABI says that Cognitive, Origin Home and Plume are active in this sector.

“From the release of new Wi-Fi protocols and clean spectrum, to the coming of age of mesh networking and value-added services, it is clear that the residential Wi-Fi market is currently undergoing a period of rapid structural transformation,” ABI Research Industry Analyst Andrew Spivey said in a press release. “In order to remain competitive, industry players need to be wary of not becoming complacent and must begin preparing their business strategies now.”

The market is growing more complex, according to ABI. This includes a number of limiting factors, including the scarcity of 6 GHz-enabled consumer devices, uneven availability of 6 GHz spectrum globally, low levels of service provider support, low levels of awareness of Wi-Fi 6E, the “proximity to Wi-Fi 7 rollout” and supply chain issues.

Businesses, the release says, are “crying out” for clarity. The ecosystem needs to know which mesh configurations are most popular, the value-added services that most people want and the answers to other questions.

The bottom line is that these advances and remaining questions are guaranteed to lead to adjustments in the business strategies across the ecosystem.