IDTechEx has a new report out about what's happening in the RFID industry. The report looks in the review mirror at 2006 and also looks up ahead at what to expect in 2007 and beyond. It considers the hits and the misses.

From IDTechEx:

What really happened in 2006?

At the start of 2007, the cumulative number of RFID tags sold over the last 60 years is 3.752 billion. 27% of that number were sold in 2006 and 19% in 2005, showing how sales have demonstrated a very robust increase. However, the sale of 1.02 billion RFID tags in 2006 (35% of those being RFID cards) has been disappointing to those expecting higher volume sales of versions in the form of labels. [...]

Outlook for 2007

In 2007 IDTechEx expect that 1.71 billion tags will be sold. The total RFID market value (including all hardware, systems, integration etc) across all countries will be $4.96 Billion. By far the biggest segment of this is RFID cards. For those not involved in that sector, the 2007 market value for non-card RFID (e.g. rfid labels, fobs, tickets, etc) will be $1.97 Billion. Excluding cards, 58.4% of the market in 2007 will be in the US and 33% in Europe.

Consequently, although China, for the first time, dominates the total RFID business - virtually without exporting - the USA dominates everything beyond the card part. The market will rise to $27.88 billion in 2017. This includes many new markets that are being created, such as the market for Real Time Locating Systems using active RFID, which will itself be more than $6 billion in 2017.

To see detailed market analysis by frequency, application, territory, year, tag type and all other major parameters, buy the fully comprehensive, best selling IDTechEx report "RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2007-2017" - extensively researched by global experts in RFID. It will save you significant time and give you the insight that any RFID business has to have. See www.idtechex.com/forecasts for more information.

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