Devices shipping with embedded WiFi Direct in 2011 will be led by desktop PCs, digital TVs, mobile phones, and notebook PCs.

WiFi Direct creates a much more powerful WiFi solution, as it enables the premier wireless networking standard to add peer-to-peer capability, with no need for a WiFi access point. This creates a much more compelling standard, a type of one-stop-shop for wireless connectivity, and brings WiFi into competition with specifications such as Bluetooth. And because WiFi Direct is software based, the marginal cost of WiFi Direct-enabled silicon over basic WiFi silicon is negligible.

“WiFi Direct enjoys wide backing from WiFi silicon vendors,” says research director Brian O’Rourke.

“Companies such as Atheros, Broadcom, CSR, Intel, Marvell, Qualcomm, Ralink, and Realtek all have plans for widespread release of WiFi Direct-enabled silicon. In fact, many of these companies received WiFi Direct certification for at least one chip solution in the fourth quarter of 2010, shortly after the specification was released by the WiFi Alliance in October. Ultimately though, the key to WiFi Direct’s success will lie in the application programming interface (APIs) software that is developed to make WiFi Direct useful to the consumer.”

Recent research by In-Stat found:

Every PC, CE device, and mobile phone that ships in 2014 with WiFi silicon will be WiFi Direct-enabled.
The WiFi Direct-enabled device shipment compounded annual growth rate will be 79% between 2011 and 2015.