Sustained enterprise demand, fueled by AI integration, Wi-Fi 6E/7 upgrades, and rising campus network investments across key Asia/Pacific markets, according to IDC
SINGAPORE – According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Quarterly Wireless LAN Tracker, the wireless local area network (WLAN) market in Asia/Pacific excluding Japan and China (APeJC) is on track to cross the US$1 billion mark again this 2025, boosted by increased investments in campus networks, upgrades from Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, and outdoor and greenfield deployments where WLAN solutions are preferred over traditional switch-based architectures. These insights are drawn from the latest findings of the report published by IDC.
After a brief slowdown in 2024, caused by post-pandemic shifts and backlog clearance, the WLAN market has stabilized. Growth is now being driven by new technology investments across industries and geographies. IDC expects this momentum to continue in the years ahead.
Key Growth Catalysts in 2025
- Acceleration of Wi-Fi 7 and Wi-Fi 6E Deployments
The adoption of advanced Wi-Fi standards continues to be a major driver of market growth. Wi-Fi 6E expands Wi-Fi capabilities into the 6 GHz band of unlicensed spectrum. IDC expects the share of Wi-Fi 7 to expand more than fourfold over the next five years, reaching over 63% of the market by 2029. This will mean higher speeds, improved connectivity, and greater adoption in campus networks, supported by the integration of generative and agentic AI applications to deliver more seamless and intelligent network performance.
- AI-Driven Network Management and Automation
Networking vendors are embedding AI capabilities into management and monitoring platforms to enable real-time analytics, anomaly detection, and automated optimization. Solutions such as Cisco’s Splunk and HPE Juniper’s Mist show how AI integration improves visibility, resilience, and operational efficiency in enterprise WLAN environments.
- Increased Campus Network Investments
Spending on campus networking — encompassing enterprise WLAN, switching, and routing — strengthened in the first half of 2025. The contribution of wireless LAN to overall campus networking investments is expected to rise steadily, with education, government, and manufacturing sectors as the largest spenders.
- Preference for Wireless-First and Greenfield Architectures over wired architecture
In emerging markets, greenfield and outdoor deployments are increasingly adopting WLAN solutions over legacy wired architectures due to greater flexibility, scalability, and faster time to deployment.
The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2024 to 2029 is expected to stay strong at over 4%. From a regional perspective, nearly half of the enterprise WLAN revenue in APeJC is driven by key markets such as India, Australia, and South Korea. Meanwhile, countries including New Zealand, Indonesia, Australia, South Korea, and the Philippines are expected to record higher compound annual growth rates.
“AI and machine learning are now being integrated into the software controls, which can help predict traffic and allocate optimal spectrum for best performance, along with self-healing wireless infrastructure,” said Amit Bansal, senior research manager, Enterprise Computing Networking Group, IDC Asia/Pacific. “IDC believes that the networking market has been consolidating over time. Market needs have been evolving, and so have been the solutions, such as consolidated deals which includesswitches with wireless LAN, networking with security, and now with AI. The networking market has strong potential and players offering comprehensive solutions in the market will be able to lead this market,” adds Bansal.
