1/21/2008 -- It looks like wireless (or its enterprise incarnation, at any rate) is growing up -- and fast. Sales of wireless LAN infrastructure equipment -- a segment that includes WLAN switches and controllers, dependent and independent access points, and wireless broadband routers -- surged by 14 percent in Q3 of last year, according to market watcher Infonetics Research.

It was a banner quarter for wireless LAN manufacturers, according to Infonetics. And Cisco Systems Inc., more than any other vendor, was the beneficiary.

"The third quarter was a good one for wireless LAN equipment manufacturers, particularly Cisco," said Richard Webb, directing analyst for wireless at Infonetics Research, in a statement. "Cisco leads across all three segments of the market -- consumer (through its Linksys division), enterprise and service provider -- and has an increasingly dominant position that looks unassailable, though other players such as Aruba Networks continue to improve their performance in the enterprise segment quarter on quarter."

The wireless market as a whole reached $870 million in Q3, spurred by strong sales in both the enterprise and consumer segments.

Drilling down, Wi-Fi phones showed enormous gains, with the number of enterprise single-mode Wi-Fi phones surging by 51 percent (with a 37 percent boost in manufacturer revenue). Elsewhere, embedded and Wi-Fi NIC shipments grew by 8 percent sequentially.

For the quarter, all regions showed double-digit growth, with the North American region leading the pack (at a 16 percent growth rate), followed by closely by the EMEA region (at 15 percent) and Asia-Pacific (11 percent). Between 2006 and 2010, Infonetics projected, manufacturer revenue for wireless LAN switches and controllers should triple.

One important driver is equipment upgrades, which -- in this case -- is driven by 802.11n adoption. It's just getting started now, Infonetics said, and will pick up steam over the next several years. --Stephen Swoyer