News

25 September 2006

 

WiMAX and WLAN: the future for GaAs

In “WiMAX Market Forecast: 2005-2010”, Strategy Analytics reports that semiconductor demand from the WiMAX market will grow at a CAAGR of 67% through 2010. However, the report cautions that overall demand will remain low compared with other wireless markets.

The market research company expects silicon technologies to account for 75% of the overall radio chip market in the early stages of WiMAX rollout, but GaAs is forecast to dominate specific functions, especially in mobile applications. GaN, however, is not considered by the research to pose a significant threat to silicon or GaAs during WiMAX’s early rollout. It’s unlikely, says the company, that GaN will emerge to upset the status quo before 2008.

Strategy Analytics’ report “GaAs Device Demand from WLAN Markets: 2005-2010” forecasts that total GaAs device demand will grow by over 76% in 2006 from $138m in 2005. The company adds that future demand for GaAs-based components, such as PAs and switches, will grow at a CAAGR of 46% through to 2010, driven by the move to multi-mode and multi-band architectures, which require multiple PAs and switches. SiGe will gain ground in 802.11g systems, but it will fail to penetrate 5 GHz applications through 2010 as 802.11n replaces 802.11g and 802.11a/g systems, says the report.

Asif Anwar, Strategy Analytics' director of the GaAs and Compound Semiconductors Technologies (GaAs) Program within the Strategic Technologies Practice, is the author of both reports.

Visit: http://www.strategyanalytics.net