Wi-Fi 7 in 2025: Will this be the year?

IDC data shows single-digit percentages as well: In the third quarter of 2024 (the most recent quarter IDC has data for), Wi-Fi 7 made up only about 5% of the enterprise class dependent access point (AP) revenue, according to Brandon Butler, senior research manager for enterprise networks at IDC.

The outlook for Wi-Fi 7 in 2025

While 2024 may well have been the breakout year for the technology, with the first official certification and consumer devices deployment, 2025 might be the year where there is real growth.

Gartner’s Canales said that his firm’s forecast for Wi-Fi 7 in 2025 is to grow to 10% of overall Wi-Fi access point unit shipments. Looking at just the small business segment, with organizations below 100 employees, provides a slightly stronger forecast. Gartner forecast Wi-Fi 7 to represent 13% of the small business segment in 2025.

IDC also sees 2025 as being a big year for Wi-Fi 7. “We expect 2025 to be an inflection point for Wi-Fi 7 adoption,” Butler said. “By the end of 2025, we forecast about 17% of enterprise-class dependent AP revenue will be Wi-Fi 7, and by 2027, about half of new enterprise-class dependent AP revenues will be Wi-Fi 7.”

Not surprisingly, the Wi-Fi Alliance is particularly optimistic about the growth prospect of Wi-Fi 7 in 2025 and beyond. “Wi-Fi 7 will see rapid adoption across a broad ecosystem with more than 2.1 billion devices shipping by 2028,” Gallagher said. 

She noted that PCs, tablets and access points will be the earliest adopters of Wi-Fi 7, while customer premises equipment (CPE) and augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) equipment will continue to gain early market traction.