Dell'Oro Group says China WLAN spending held back growth

Dell'Oro Group published a quarterly report that found a sharp contraction in China spending kept worldwide Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) revenue growth below double digits in 3Q 2025.

The research indicated that regions outside China recorded stronger WLAN spending in the quarter, and that expansion in 3Q 2025 was led by the Middle East and Africa while China experienced double-digit revenue declines; public cloud-managed WLAN grew at twice the rate of the overall market due to higher average selling prices.

The WLAN (LAN) Quarterly Report presented manufacturers' revenue, average selling prices, and unit shipments by wireless standards, including Wi‑Fi 7 (802.11be), 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) (Wi‑Fi 6 and 6E), 802.11ac Wave 1 versus Wave 2, 802.11n, and historic 802.11 standards, and it covered Enterprise Outdoor and Indoor markets as well as WLAN controllers and licenses.

For the first time, HPE's revenue totals included sales of Juniper Mist after the acquisition completed early July, and the company began making product convergence announcements; the report also noted that Ubiquiti led shipment volumes for 802.11be (Wi-Fi 7).

“Cisco was late to the Wi‑Fi 7 party,” said Siân Morgan. “But their aggressive pricing strategy has launched them into first place in terms of Wi‑Fi 7 revenue, and this latest technology has ramped faster for Cisco than any prior version of Wi‑Fi.” “We saw strong WLAN spending in all regions outside China, where revenue contracted by double-digits,” said Siân Morgan. “In 3Q 2025, the market expansion was led by the Middle East and Africa, but all macro regions except China have resumed a strong growth trajectory following the declines of 2024.”