Despite a crushing global economic recession in 2009, the worldwide enterprise-class wireless LAN (WLAN) market suffered relatively small market declines and is now poised for a strong rebound in 2010. According to new research by International Data Corporation (IDC), the WLAN market will gain momentum throughout the year, growing 23 percent from $1.7 billion in 2009 to a robust $2.1 billion in 2010.

"Unlike other markets that were ravaged by the recession, economic uncertainty and the structural causes of the downturn did not change the fundamental drivers for the growth of wireless in the enterprise," said Rohit Mehra, director, Enterprise Communications Infrastructure. "New applications, new devices, and new verticals are all contributing to the organic growth of Wi-Fi across all regions."

The proliferation of wireless devices on the network increases both the importance and pervasiveness of the enterprise wireless network.

"More and more customers are demanding resilient, intelligent, scalable, and adaptive wireless network infrastructures. They are gearing up for widespread deployments across the board -- not just in the carpeted areas of enterprise and in the education market segment, but in widespread applications across major verticals," said Mehra. Recovery from short-term softness in retail, manufacturing, and services verticals, combined with the continued strength in education, healthcare, and government, will help drive WLAN growth in 2010.