WiFi in smartphones is as ubiquitous as cellular radios – 100% of smartphones sold today have WiFi.  Surprisingly, a (much smaller) proportion of feature phones also have WiFi, and that proportion is increasing, albeit slowly. 

WiFi is an extremely important technology for handsets, allowing data usage to be offloaded from cellular to WiFi networks.  Increasingly, voice is also being offloaded as well. 

WiFi standards are also evolving, improving both data speeds and range of the wireless networks, while lowering power consumption.  New technologies allow smartphones using WiFi to establish direct WiFi connections with peripherals without using a wireless router.

Staying at the forefront of WiFi standards is a tricky business for vendors as they need to not only anticipate when a new standard will be commonly available, but also know which standards will not be commonly implemented; WiGig is an example of the later.

Nevertheless, WiFi will remain a check-box item for smartphones, and increasingly for feature phones.  No obvious technology has yet appeared on the horizon that will replace it. However, WiFi standards will continue to evolve, making it important for vendors to understand which standards to focus on for future evolutions.