Historically, market volume for passive RFID tags is higher in LF and HF applications, rather than UHF. However, passive UHF labels represent a significant high-growth, high-volume opportunity that is not going unnoticed. Over the last few years, major IC and inlay players have dedicated new lines — or reallocated existing lines — to support an increase in passive UHF label demand. The RFID passive-label manufacturing value chain is complex and involves a multitude of players, and ABI Research contends that the industry will require continued component and material innovation, as well as an evolution of manufacturing processes, to better instigate market growth.
Michael Liard, research director for RFID, says, “The UHF band is superior for supply chain management, asset tracking, and numerous others applications. UHF offers a larger read range, a higher data transfer rate, and operates at higher speeds — and it represents one of the fastest-growing segments in the industry.”
Highlighted in the recent ABI Research study, “The RFID Passive Label Market: An Examination of Costs, Assembly Methods, and Future Innovation”, there is a large market with respect to barcode label converters: consisting of thousands throughout the world. Much work has occurred on the IC end as far as standards, along with a strong effort to make them less expensive and smaller to fit into different tag sizes and dimensions. And there is focus on data security to ensure interoperability with standards that have been ratified.
“Using different components and materials,” Liard adds, “will help lower costs, but if manufacturers don’t dedicate lines to RFID and overhaul their existing processes to adopt newer technologies and production methods, it will become increasingly challenging to meet the price threshold end-users are willing to pay for RFID labels regarded as high-volume, truly killer applications.”
It is not so much the technology getting up to speed as far as the components that go into the label; it is really about what needs to happen with the manufacturing of these labels.
This ABI Research study forms part of the firm’s
RFID Research Service, which includes the completely updated RFID Market Data Forecast database.
Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations supporting annual research programs, intelligence services, and market reports in broadband and multimedia, RFID and contactless, M2M, wireless connectivity, mobile wireless, transportation, and emerging technologies. For information, visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.
|
