The next growth engine
The power of RFID is becoming obvious to all. The industry is expected to expand substantially in the next few years. RFID has been highlighted as a new growth sector and there are great expectations for its progress. It is on track to make a huge leap in size, from about $5 billion in 2007 to over $25 billion in 2017. Growth of 7.3% has been reported in this year alone, from a total market value of $4.93 billion in 2007 to $5.29 billion in 2008. This impressive growth is taking place in spite of the completion of the world's largest RFID project, the $6 billion China national ID card program. The cards were completed ahead of the Beijing Olympics, but this has not taken the wind out of RFID's sails as the industry steams forward. The program's success bodes well for RFID as it moves ahead. China and the U.S form the two largest markets for RFID. These two massive economies rely on RFID across their societies. RFID finds use in a variety of industries, as its ability to receive and transmit information can be used to facilitate a wide array of tasks in many sectors. RFID is now being used in 105 countries around the world. Those who haven't yet gotten on board will do so soon, or risk being left standing on the platform while the train speeds out of the station. The growth of the industry can be attributed by many factors. In particular, there is now strong demand for the ability to immediately locate goods and people. This is driven by concern for security, safety, cost and customer satisfaction. If a product is found to be dangerous or deficient, its producers can figure out its exact location and have it recalled before it reaches consumers. As more people shop online, they can track the location of their purchases, creating a more pleasant experience for consumers.
The need to know, now- Real Time Locating
Real Time Locating Systems is a booming market. The threats of events like natural disasters are becoming more common, and many companies are seeking ways to more effectively deal with the fallout of such tragedies. If an employer needs to bring staff together at a moment's notice, their exact whereabouts can be gauged in an instant. Ubiquitous Sensor Networks (USN) are systems where large numbers of active RFID tags with sensors are radio networked in buildings, forests, rivers, hospitals and other locations are a part of RFID integration into ubiquitous society. As time goes on and RFID becomes a firmer part of ubiquitous society, the costs associated with it will decrease. Declining costs are proving to be an advantage for RFID in an era where industries based on commodities are seeing costs of operations go through the roof. After being hugely expensive for a long time, the costs of RFID use and implementation are going down. Tags and systems are both becoming more desirable due to their lower costs. At present, a large portion of the money spent on RFID is on the system, which includes the reader, network, installation and software. In 2007, 63.9% of the amount spent on active RFID was on the system instead of the tags. As the number of tags per application increases, this changes so that by 2017 the amount spent on the system will be 57.3%.
Lower costs boost growth
The main emphasis of RFID use and supply has radically changed course. The business is booming in just about every sector other than the supply of pallet and case tagging to retailer and military mandates, where there are two problems. Disproportionately high prices have been established by suppliers for the tags, readers and chips. Despite the hefty costs, they still cannot be relied upon to work properly in cases involving glass, metal or anything wet. That sums up most of what is sold in grocery stores, making integration into that section especially difficult. This is part of a matrix of factors that will see prices associated with RFID fall at a steady pace. There are now over 100 companies involved in active RFID, and as governments search for the next growth engine to boost their economies, many are cutting large checks to RFID researchers to study low cost active RFID, meaning more ways of improving the technology will be discovered.
The decline in price will accelerate as new technologies come into play such as new micro batteries and printed logic. This increase in affordability will give RFID a burst of speed while on the home stretch towards ubiquity. A particularly valuable sector with RFID is Active RFID. This type of RFID refers to an arrangement where a battery drives the tag. Active RFID is growing at a rate that is high even for this rapid growth industry. It is beginning to take up an increasingly large portion of the industry. One bump in RFID's road to prominence is the present lack of standardization. There are not binding, agreedupon standards for the specifics of frequency and other characteristics. A sense of uniformity has not yet been reached. While there remain kinks in the plan, present and future forecasts say that RFID is poised to make good on its promise as the next new growth engine.
