Thursday, 9 March 2006

Nearly 3 Billion RFID Tags to be Shipped in China by 2009

RFID technology has arrived in China in an unprecedented manner, with over 100 million tags shipped in 2005, and more than 2.9 billion tags forecast to be shipped by 2009, reports In-Stat. From 2005 through 2009, a major RFID application will be for human ID through China's second-generation Resident ID Card program, the high-tech market research firm says.

"With a population of over 1.3 billion, the issuance of RFID-tag-inlaid Resident ID cards by the Ministry of Public Security is one of the biggest RFID projects in the world," says Anty Zheng, In-Stat analyst. "More than one billion ID Cards will be issued before the end of 2008."

A recent report by In-Stat found the following:

• Beginning in 2008, RFID tags used for items will exceed those used for resident ID cards, making the retail industry the biggest consumer of tags.
• Incompatible RFID standards remain obstacles for an open supply chain that crosses industries and territories.
• Tag prices are still relatively expensive, ranging from a low of around USD 0.15 to a high of over USD 200.