According to Market Intelligence Center (MIC), in the first quarter of 2006, due to the decline in the global shipment of notebook PCs, and due to Wi-Fi DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) CPE (Customer Premise Equipment) and PSP (Play Station Portable) with built-in Wi-Fi chip-on-board, and the continuing decline in AP (Access Point) demand in the retail market, shipment volume of the Taiwanese WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) industry was affected.

Shipment volume of Taiwanese WLAN NIC (Network Interface Card) increased approximately 50.4% year-on-year to about 29.9 million units in the first quarter, with shipment value rising 27% year-on-year to about US$370.8 million. Shipment volume of AP plunged 45.5% year-on-year to approximately 1.2 million units, with the shipment value falling 49% year-on-year to about US$43.9 million.

In the second quarter of 2006, several WLAN NIC trends are expected to come to the forefront. Firstly, in the second quarter the global shipment volume of notebook PCs is expected to rise 9% sequentially and the shipment share of notebook PCs with built-in Wi-Fi is expected to exceed 90%, thereby boosting shipment volume of WLAN NIC for application in notebook PCs. Secondly, in the second quarter shipment of DSL is expected to maintain the brisk pace set in the first quarter and share of wireless products is expected to increase, but due to the strong price competition for Wi-Fi DSL CPE, shipment share of chip-on-board will increase substantially.  Thirdly, shipment of Wi-Fi softphone is going to enter the growth stage and Taiwanese makers will begin to mass produce dual-mode phones in cooperation with T-mobile and other operators, providing fresh growth momentum for WLAN. Vendors will place more orders for notebook PCs with Taiwanese makers, and outsource production of Wi-Fi softphones and dual-mode phones to Taiwanese makers, bringing more business opportunities to Taiwan WLAN makers.

In the second quarter, Taiwanese WLAN NIC shipment volume is expected to hit 33.2 million sets, for about 37.6% year-on-year growth, while AP shipment volume is expected to reach 1.3 million units, representing a year-on-year decline of approximately 27%.