In-Stat: 80 Million Digital TVs to Feature Wi-Fi Direct by 2015

SCOTTSDALE: Wi-Fi Direct, which provides device-to-device connections without a traditional network, is forecast to be enabled on nearly 80 million digital TVs by 2015, In-Stat predicts.

The report, Wi-Fi Direct: It’s All About the Software, says that mobile PCs will adopt Wi-Fi Direct quicker than any other application. Total shipments for Wi-Fi Direct-enabled devices will reach 173 million this year. Looking ahead, In-Stat predicts that every PC, consumer-electronics device and mobile phone that ships in 2014 with Wi-Fi silicon will be Wi-Fi Direct-enabled.

“One significant question surrounding to Wi-Fi Direct is will it ultimately help to increase the penetration of Wi-Fi? The answer is, marginally if at all,” said Brian O’Rourke, research director. “Wi-Fi is already doing very well, with increasing penetration rates throughout PCs, PC peripherals, CE devices and mobile phones. As a peer-to-peer networking technology, Wi-Fi Direct may be the most help in CE, where Wi-Fi’s impact has been more modest than in the PC world. It is in the CE market, particularly portable CE devices, where Wi-Fi Direct may have the most added value.”