87% of Wi-Fi Smartphones to Sport 802.11n in 2014

According to a recently published report from ABI Research, around 87 of the Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones on the market in 2014 should include the 802.11n Wi-Fi technology. This still marks a great increase in the availability of the standard, which was present on only one percent of the Wi-Fi-capable smartphones last year, the research firm also notes.

“Driven by chip-makers more than by handset vendors, 802.11n is making its official debut in higher-end smartphones in 2010,” says ABI Research industry analyst Michael Morgan. “802.11n is arriving in the handset just at the right time. We had to wait for consumers to switch over to 802.11n access points, and we’re just now reaching that tipping point. Something like 50% of the Wi-Fi access points on offer are now 11n. Consumers are becoming aware of what it can do.”

Even so, it seems that the performance levels that users will receive from the technology on their smartphones will not be similar with the one provided by laptops with 802.11n on board, at least not in the beginning. Moreover, Morgan notes that 802.11n-enabled handsets are not expected to offer MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output) or other enhancements the 11n comes with, at least not in the first stages.

According to him, “users won’t see the same degree of improvement that they would with a laptop or netbook. While 802.11n will start to penetrate mid- and lower-end smartphones from about 2012 on, the full power of the protocol won’t be available in most handsets until 2014 or later.” ABI Research notes that the manufacturing costs for the inclusion of 802.11n beside the b/g protocols on mobile phones are almost equal to nothing.

Moreover, the already available protocols in Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones are expected to remain there, mainly due to the fact that the device thus will be capable to work in various environments. When it comes to frequencies, the same rule applies, the research firm notes, “802.11n works best in the 5 GHz band, while b and g are restricted to 2.4 GHz.” Morgan concludes, “It‘s important for vendors to continue offering all these protocols and if possible selectable frequency capabilities for some time to come.