Wi-Fi 7 applications and tech development

Wi-Fi 7 adoption will start with smartphones and PCs that are already in large-scale production. Leading Wi-Fi 7 chip makers include Qualcomm, MediaTek, Broadcom and Intel. The market will see Wi-Fi 7 adopted mainly in high-end devices in 2024 due to Wi-Fi 7 chips' high manufacturing cost as they are generally made using the 6nm process.

In 2024, Wi-Fi 7 chips for smartphones will primarily be supplied by Qualcomm, Broadcom and MediaTek. Among them, Qualcomm is expected to enjoy a 41.8% market share of Wi-Fi 7 chips for smartphones, buoyed by its strong Snapdragon 5G smartphone application processor (AP) shipments.

Broadcom will secure the largest market share at 44.1% thanks to orders from Apple and Google. MediaTek, in the third place, will represent 14.2% of the market. High-end smartphones will begin to feature Wi-Fi 7 in first-half 2024, followed by mid-to-high-tier phones in second-half 2024.

• Introduction

• Penetration rate

• Chart 1: Wi-Fi 7 products global penetration rate, 2023-2025

• Comparison to others

• Table 1: Comparison of Wi-Fi 7, Wi-Fi 6/6E and SLB

• Technology breakdown

• Transmission speed

• Chart 2: Theoretical maximum speed comparison of Wi-Fi 7 and 6/6E in PC and AP (Gbps)

• MLO and preamble puncturing

• Table 2: Wi-Fi 7 adoption of MLO, preamble puncturing to improve transmission efficiency

• 6GHz frequency band

• Table 3: Global deployment of Wi-Fi-use 6GHz frequency band, 2023 (units)

• Applications

• Table 4: Key applications for Wi-Fi 7

• Smartphones

• Table 5: Differences in combination of smartphone AP and Wi-Fi module

• Chart 3: Wi-Fi 7 smartphone global penetration rate, 2023-2025

• Chart 4: Major Wi-Fi chip suppliers' share of Wi-Fi 7 smartphone market, 2023-2025

• PCs

• Table 6: Combination of PC hardware with Wi-Fi 7 modules

• Others

• Table 7: Applications expected to be powered by Wi-Fi 7 and time needed for implementation

• Summary

• Table 8: Summary of Wi-Fi 7 development