August 29, 2006
Item-Level RFID Tag Use To Undergo Huge Growth
While item-level RFID tagging has been predicted to be where retailers (and manufacturers) will most benefit from tracking sales of consumer goods, it has not beenwidely implemented because of the cumulative cost of RFID tags, amongst other reasons. However, a study from IDTechEx says that item-level tagging is expected to grow nearly 100-fold in the next ten years, from about US$0.16B to US$13B. [via MTB Europe; a very thorough article] Compare this to an IDTechEx report from Sep 2005 which predicted sales of US$24.5 B, for all types of RFID tags, by 2015.
Many of the items tagged to date are higher end consumer items - such as the expensive Fusion razor - as well as medical supplies, machine parts, etc. The sheer increase in tag volume expected is what will help grow the industry. It's not hard to predict that the growth from now until 2016 will be exponential, as more companies realize the value to them, in terms of both asset tracking and supply chain management.
The early growth will in turn drive item-level RFID tag prices down, which will then allow less expensive goods and items to be tagged, fueling even further use. There are still issues of radio frequency bands to be worked out, as certain items tagged in some countries would violate bandwidth regulations elsewhere. Each country has a different policy about frequency use, and there is still no single accepted standard worldwide. However, EPCGlobal's EPC (Electronic Product Code) is often considered the defacto standard in the RFID industry. In fact, EPCGlobal's Gen 2 RFID standard was recently accepted by the ISO (International Standards Organisation). This in itself should help propel the use of tags.
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