Global Wi-Fi IoT Market to Reach 6.7B Connections by 2026: ABI

The Chinese Wi-Fi IoT market is projected to expand at a 29% compound annual growth rate over the next five years, reaching 916.6 million connections in 2026 from 252 million in 2021, reported ABI Research Wednesday. COVID-19 pandemic-induced remote work fueled consumer demand for “cohesive home environments,” stimulating the growth of smart home applications enabled by IoT devices using Wi-Fi connectivity, it said. “To meet the surging Wi-Fi demand, the Chinese market has been ramping up manufacturing capabilities through support plans provided by the government and the emergence of new vendors to ease the strain felt from the global chip shortage,” said analyst Andrew Zignani. ABI forecasts the global Wi-Fi IoT market will grow to 6.7 billion connections by 2026, nearly a threefold increase from 2021, it said: “With a population strength of around 1.4 billion, China alone makes up approximately 40% of the global Wi-Fi IoT market. This indicates the strong prospects for the Chinese Wi-Fi ecosystem, where Wi-Fi-enabled applications and services would be driven by the proliferation of IoT.”