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Apple's manoeuvrings in wireless have understandably been focused on the iPhone. However, the company has been racking up another wireless success outside the handset arena which underpin Apple's strategy to become a dominant force across the consumer electronics market by creating a virtuous circle of products - from computers to phones and media centres to music players - which lock consumers into the Apple experience by exploiting the company's strengths in branding, style and retail.

Earlier this month, market research firm NPD Group reported that Apple's AirPort Extreme has become the top-selling 802.11n wireless router in the US market, trumping established networking brands like Linksys (Cisco), D-Link and NETGEAR. Combined with sales of the Apple's AirPort Express - a Wi-Fi access point - Apple took fourth place in overall 802.11n base station sales. This is a significant achievement in its own right, but the most important take-away is this: while Apple holds about 6% of the US computer market (it's global market share is much lower, at around 3%), it presently controls 11% of the 802.11n base station market, indicating that many sales of these wireless networking products are going to non-Mac users - i.e. PC users.

The 802.11 protocol is an IEEE standard so access points will be compatible with any computer, regardless of whether it's a Mac or PC. This begs the questions: why would a PC user want an Apple access point when there are a variety of devices from a host of established PC networking brands to choose from? One reason is effectively summarised by the images below, which show an 802.11n router from Linksys alongside the Airport Extreme.

Linksys	AirPort Extreme

Whatever creature designed the Linksys device, it certainly wasn't human. Sure, 802.11n supports multiple antenna technology, but do we really want to see all of them? There are not many consumers who want to erect something resembling a miniature air-traffic control tower in their living room.

Apple, on the other hand, intuitively understands aesthetics. The company continues to exploit design and styling, turning technology products into desirable appliances which users, far from wanting to hide them within the recesses of their homes, positively want to show them off.

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