3/17/2009 -- Cisco Systems Inc. faces new -- if not exactly threatening -- competition in the enterprise Wi-Fi segment, thanks to the efforts of a surging Motorola Inc. To be sure, Cisco still dominates enterprise Wi-Fi, but Motorola's growth streak has been impressive.

"Declines in the wireless LAN market were broad and deep among virtually all vendors in the fourth quarter of 2008, but Motorola and D-link bucked this trend, and Motorola is now right on Aruba's heels for wireless LAN revenue," said Matthias Machowinski, a directing analyst with Infonetics' Enterprise Voice and Data practice, in a statement. "The wireless LAN market is certain to get squeezed in 2009, but the long-term outlook is positive, as many enterprise buyers are looking at upgrading and expanding their wireless infrastructure."

Elsewhere, Machowinski and Infonetics concluded, "Cisco is unassailable in the worldwide WLAN equipment market, with 52 percent revenue share," excluding, of course, sales of Wi-Fi-enabled phones.

Last year, Infonetics reported, global wireless LAN sales failed to improve upon their performance in 2007, with sales slipping 4 percent year over year; that's in spite of strong growth during the first six months of 2008. In this case, as in so many others, the worldwide economic crisis took its toll, Infonetics concluded.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, wireless LAN revenues were especially hit, with the market dropping 11 percent sequentially. On the other hand, Infonetics reported, WLAN switch and controller sales were up (again, sequentially) by 32 percent and 12 percent respectively. --Stephen Swoyer