Poor sales reports despite efforts to pre-certify Draft-N kit
Several sources in the Far East seem to be indicating that Draft-N wireless kits aren’t shifting as well as hoped.
Reports say that chipset makers taking fewer orders for the components used in Draft-N products by as much as a third.
This news shouldn’t be taken as a direct comment on the UK market, since most of the kits haven’t yet shipped in any quantity here. It also doesn’t tie in with the views of many networking vendors we’ve spoken to; the party line is, predictably, that the kits have been flying off US shelves.
Early adopters boosted the technology the other side of the pond with sales of around the two million mark during the late spring. However, sales over the summer seem to be a tiny fraction of those figures.
It’s no surprise to us that buyers seem to be holding off – we expect them to continue to do so. Most have stable 802.11g networks that are enough for most current needs. The fact Draft-N enables competent streaming of HD video isn’t yet a concern to most consumers.
Pre-certification planned
These rumours do add an intriguing backdrop to the Wi-Fi Alliance’s recent surprising announcement that it will ‘pre-certify’ kits based on the second draft version of the standard. Draft 2.0 will see the light of day early next year.
What is clear is that the organisation is under intense pressure from vendors. Pressure that the Wi-Fi Alliance, in turn, is passing on to the IEEE – the body responsible for creating the standard.
The approval process for 802.11n was originally supposed to be in early 2007. Almost everyone in the industry is now quoting 2008 as the time that ratification will finally happen.
The Wi-Fi Alliance has previously threatened to ignore the IEEE and push forward with its own interpretation of the standard. That’s unlikely, and will only become a serious threat if the IEEE can not get the required 75 per cent of approval by its members for 802.11n by the time the next draft hits the shelves.
