Telecom Lead Asia: Shipments of core home networking
equipment such as home gateways/routers, adapters, bridges, NICs, embedded LAN,
NAS and networked-enabled media devices including CE devices with network
connectivity, excluding computers and mobile devices will exceed one billion
units in 2014.

On the CE side, TVs, Blu-ray players, and set-top boxes
are expected to lead in shipments. As pay-TV operators continue to push new
services and features, such as multiscreen initiatives and whole home DVRs,
connectivity will increasingly come to the forefront of the digital living
room,” said ABI Research senior analyst Michael Inouye.

Wi-Fi is expected to remain the most common technology
used to connect these media devices (in most cases greater than 60 percent).
Other wired networking technologies (through adapters) such as MoCA, G.hn,
power line communication, and HomePNA, are expected to start gaining additional
traction.

Consumer mindshare is anticipated to grow as more
pay-TV/broadband operators use these devices to extend services throughout the
home.

A consumer, for instance, might start a file transfer to
a media tablet using 60GHz wireless technology, then switch to a 5GHz
technology as the device moves about the home, and then again, unbeknownst to
the consumer, switch to MoCA to finish the download as the tablet is docked,”
Inouye added.

With working groups such as P1905.1 building toward a
connected networking environment, this future will still need the support of
all companies throughout the value chain, considering the large number of consumers
who in past primary studies have shown a general lack of awareness about the
networking technologies currently in their homes.

[email protected]