ABI Research predicted market size of about $4.6 billion for RFID systems by the end of 2010. According to the company, there is continuing strong growth potential in RFID markets worldwide (hardware, software, and services). The total reaches $5.5 billion when hardware-only shipments to support automobile immobilization are included.
The company further forecasted that global RFID system markets (excluding immobilization) to amount to almost $5.3 billion by the end of 2011, a year-over-year growth in excess of 16 percent. RFID systems software revenue will outpace that from services, transponders and readers. When automobile immobilization is included the total market size is approximately $6.2 billion, representing 13 percent growth next year.
Hotspots include:
Massive retail deployments: Liard noted, “Item-level apparel tracking is probably the biggest area to watch in 2010-2011 and beyond, especially due to Wal-Mart’s ‘jeans and basics’ tagging announcement.” JCPenney, Marks & Spencer, and American Apparel among others remain key retailers to watch given their existing programs and deployment plans.
Regional performers shine: The “Rest of World” region, which includes the Middle East, Latin America, South Africa and others, currently comprises only 7% of the overall RFID market but it is expected to adopt RFID solutions faster than any of the more industrialized regions. This is due to increased focus on using RFID in the Middle East in the oil and gas space and for construction; in Latin America for animal ID, food safety, and retail; and in South Africa for RTI, among others.
An explosion in passive UHF transponders: According to Liard, “ABI Research (News - Alert) expects to see a CAGR of 74 percent in passive UHF transponders from 2010 to 2014 thanks to burgeoning demand within key applications such as retail apparel tagging and asset management.”
Asset tracking and management: Asset tracking and management applications continue to gain momentum in verticals including healthcare, manufacturing (particularly the aerospace and defense sector), transportation and logistics.
Sujata Garud is a TMCnet freelancer with three years of writing/editing experience and two years of market research experience. As an editor she has covered the IT, electronics, banking, pharma, construction, mining and healthcare industries. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Jaclyn Allard