We’ve seen the future, and it’s WiFi VoIP handset shaped.

According to analysts at Infonetics Research, single-mode VoIP handsets such as the Netgear Skype WiFi phone, along with the next generation of dual-mode mobile/VoIP handsets, are the future of chatter.

The global WiFi phone market is expanding at such a rate - at least doubling each year - that Infonetics predict it’ll be worth $3.7 billion by 2009. To put it into perspective, that’s about what the worldwide anti-virus market is worth right now.

(Trivia corner: it also compares roughly with the money spent on campaigning in the 2004 US elections. I’m saying nothing.)

Infonetics predicts that the real WiFi phone explosion will come when dual-mode mobile/VoIP WiFi handsets come down in price within the next couple of years, taking them from niche business devices to consumer must-haves.

“With D-Link, Linksys and Netgear all launching WiFi VoIP handsets, we expect increasing adoption in the consumer market,” said Richard Webb, Infonetics’ directing wireless analyst. “but the real growth will come from dual-mode WiFi/cellular handsets. The long-term forecast is strong, assuming these handsets come down in price to sub-$100 (£54).”