Global Powerline Home Networking Update: Growing in Spite of the Economy

Abstract

Broadband powerline (BPL) networking, or powerline communications (PLC), offers a solution with some advantages over coax and twisted-pair, especially in homes and regions with few coax or phone jacks. But, high-speed powerline solutions are also increasingly being used over coax as well.

Worldwide equipment sales based on HomePlug and non-HomePlug broadband powerline approached 10 million in 2007. We still expect powerline to play a dominant role in the existing-wire networking arena on a worldwide scale.

With no new cabling needed, powerline networking is emerging as a winner in the residential networking race on a worldwide basis for multimedia home networking. Although broadband has gained most of the attention, the HomePlug Command & Control (HPCC) low-speed, narrowband powerline has emerged. Demand is rising for conservation and management of energy, becoming the overriding driver for smart grid applications. Utilities are evaluating the HomePlug specifications for a number of applications. Worldwide market acceptance is expected to be strong, especially in light of many regional mandates for energy savings.

This report provides guidance on market trends and expected progress, opportunities, segmentations, market sizing, and consumer survey results. Worldwide forecasts include unit segmentation by geographic region, product categories, technology/protocol, bandwidth, PHY/MAC chipset ASP, retail vs. service provider channel, and in-home networking vs. access/MDU/utility use.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Worldwide equipment shipments based on Home-Plug and non-HomePlug broadband powerline approached 10 million units in 2007.
• devolo AG again ranked number one in worldwide annual equipment market shares.
• Growth for broadband powerline networking equipment will surpass 50% in 2008.
• Management and conservation of energy has become the overriding driver for smart grid, utility powerline networking applications, and may be used for billing associated with charging electric cars.
• In the future, we expect some vendors to provide in-home ITU-T G.hn networking solutions offering backward compatibility with HomePlug or UPA, instead of just co-existence. However, G.hn does not cover access networking that is used for MDU and utility access applications.

• Telecom service providers, mainly in Europe, but also North America and Asia/Pacific. Second-tier company targets are cable and satellite service providers
• Semiconductor companies
• Primary equipment companies

• Equipment, service providers, and semiconductor vendors that provide broadband home networking products and adapters to consumers
• Consumer electronics OEMs that are interested in embedding such technology into their products
• Telco, cable, and satellite service providers
• Financial community: Equipment market shares provided

• What is the size and growth rate of the broadband powerline networking market for in-home and access (access includes MDU deployments)?
• What is the size and growth rate of the broadband powerline market by bandwidth speed?
• What is the size and growth rate of the narrowband HomePlug (HPCC) market?
• What are the differences in market size and growth between sales channels: retail vs. service provider?
• What are the differences in market size between HomePlug & Non-HomePlug markets?
• What are the semiconductor price trends?
• What are the regional differences and market sizes?
• What are the applications and product segments that are driving growth?
• Who are the leading equipment suppliers?
• Who are the chip suppliers?
• What is the latest activity in standards?
• What are the competing technologies and market drivers?
• Can I see an equipment matrix summary showing technology and channels by company?

Methodology

The information contained, or used as a basis for analysis, in this report came from primary and secondary sources of information. Primary sources of information included telephone and email discussions with industry players involved in powerline networking. Secondary information included company websites, company-provided information, and industry periodicals. In addition, internal In-Stat databases were utilized. All forecasts represent worldwide figures. Please note that some of the numbers in this report may not calculate exactly due to rounding.

The forecasts in this report are the result of internal models developed by In-Stat to analyze the rapidly changing connected home marketplace. The forecasts in this report focus on equipment unit shipments, except for broadband chipset ASPs and our initial forecast for HPCC chipsets.

This research report also references data from our annual home networking consumer survey, conducted during summer 2008. The respondents from the NA broadband survey were members of a large, third-party online consumer panel that consists of over 1.7 million consumers in the US and Canada, recruited by invitation, all of whom complete an in-depth profiling survey. This panel has the ability to deliver a cross-section of the US and Canadian populations. The screening criteria for the population sampled for this survey included those with a minimum age of 18, those who had broadband access at home, and those with at least one PC used at home. Additionally, we screened respondents in order to obtain at least 10% from Canada to approximate the percentage of Canadian broadband subscribers in North America. This survey covered many topics related to broadband and home networking. This survey had 1,000 completes, with 900 from the US and 100 from Canada. Of the 1,000 North American respondents, 716 respondents had a home network.