Driven by the still rising number of broadband subscribers, the desire to share bandwidth, residential gateway use by telecom broadband providers, and increases in Asia/Pacific, the worldwide installed base of home networks is expected to break the 200 million mark by the end of 2008.

Compared to previous years, the growth of the total market for broadband and network customer premises equipment (CPE) is slowing, but is expected to remain positive through at least 2012 as technological upgrades will spur replacements, reports In-Stat. The total CPE market includes broadband modems, routers, and residential gateway equipment for DSL, cable, Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH), Fixed Wireless Broadband (FWB), and Fixed Satellite Broadband (FSB), the high-tech market research firm says.

"With worldwide broadband subscribers predicted to exceed 500 million in 2010, there will be a very significant installed base of equipment that presents opportunities for replacements and upgrades," says Joyce Putscher, In-Stat analyst. "Gigabit Ethernet, VoIP, the DSL Forum’s TR-69, and 802.11n are examples of drivers for CPE upgrades and replacements over the next several years. But we see a potential issue in terms of consumers' lack of knowledge regarding the benefits and differences between 802.11g and 802.11n, which could spell trouble for 802.11n upgrades."

Recent research by In-Stat found the following:

- Worldwide CPE unit shipments grew 15% in 2007 to 149 million.

- By 2010, gateways will garner a majority share of global annual CPE revenue.

- By 2012, we expect routers to still be comprised of a higher percentage of wireless units than DSL gateways. Asia/Pacific's share of routers will continue to increase through 2011. This region's router market is increasingly being driven by China, due to that region's annual rise in the number of home networks.

- Worldwide home LAN PHY interface shipments will surpass 500 million during 2010.

- "Green" network equipment not among the most important features in consumers' minds.