More than five years later than the industry had expected, market research and events firm 6582 IDTechEx find that the passive RFID tag market is now seeing tremendous volume growth.
Market research and events firm IDTechEx find that the passive RFID tag market is now seeing tremendous volume growth - more than five years later than the industry had expected. Most of the growth is based on retailer adoption of UHF RFID for shelf-level stock replenishment, with the latest example being fashion retailer Zara recently announcing its intention to roll out RFID to approximately 2,000 stores by 2016.
IDTechEx forecast in the new report, RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2014-2024, that 25 billion RFID tags will be used on retail apparel and shoes in 2020 and a similar number on other ‘high value, high complexity mix’ items. Many other segments are taking off thanks to standardised, reliable technology where applications outside of retail are leveraging the considerable investment put in by RFID suppliers to address retailer needs.
Average tag prices in HF RFID are typically higher than UHF tags, often due to the need for greater security and therefore IC complexity, for example for payment applications. While NFC has been a failure so far due to lack of resolve between payment, telecoms and phone companies, it may be that Apple sets it on the right path and NFC begins to see traction over the coming years.
IDTechEx has found some striking territorial differences, as summarized in the chart below. UHF adoption is strongest in the US and Europe, and relatively weak in Asia in terms of number of tags, although tag production is increasingly moving there. In contrast, HF adoption has been strong in all territories, but particularly in Asia.
Overall, IDTechEx find that in 2014, the total RFID market is worth US$8.89 billion, up from US$7.77 billion in 2013 and US$6.96 billion in 2012. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID cards, labels, fobs and all other form factors. IDTechEx forecast that to rise to US$27.31 billion in 2024.
Market research and events firm IDTechEx find that the passive RFID tag market is now seeing tremendous volume growth - more than five years later than the industry had expected. Most of the growth is based on retailer adoption of UHF RFID for shelf-level stock replenishment, with the latest example being fashion retailer Zara recently announcing its intention to roll out RFID to approximately 2,000 stores by 2016.
IDTechEx forecast in the new report, RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2014-2024, that 25 billion RFID tags will be used on retail apparel and shoes in 2020 and a similar number on other ‘high value, high complexity mix’ items. Many other segments are taking off thanks to standardised, reliable technology where applications outside of retail are leveraging the considerable investment put in by RFID suppliers to address retailer needs.
Average tag prices in HF RFID are typically higher than UHF tags, often due to the need for greater security and therefore IC complexity, for example for payment applications. While NFC has been a failure so far due to lack of resolve between payment, telecoms and phone companies, it may be that Apple sets it on the right path and NFC begins to see traction over the coming years.
IDTechEx has found some striking territorial differences, as summarized in the chart below. UHF adoption is strongest in the US and Europe, and relatively weak in Asia in terms of number of tags, although tag production is increasingly moving there. In contrast, HF adoption has been strong in all territories, but particularly in Asia.
Overall, IDTechEx find that in 2014, the total RFID market is worth US$8.89 billion, up from US$7.77 billion in 2013 and US$6.96 billion in 2012. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID cards, labels, fobs and all other form factors. IDTechEx forecast that to rise to US$27.31 billion in 2024.
