RFID Trends – a ubiquitous technology

RFID Technology (Radio Frequency Identification) was one of the main issues at CeBIT 2005. The industry is predicting massive cost-savings and new business opportunities due to the use of these smart wireless chips. But also critics raised about the privacy and security for the consumer.

A new market research report reveals some surprising predictions in the RFID market.Including a prediction that the market will hit $7 billion by 2008.

Repeating the barcode market trend, where the market grew then declined, the value of the RFID market will initially peak before the annual numbers of tags sold peak. As technical problems are slowly being overcome at the previously little-used UHF frequency to tag 30 billion pallets and cases a year, the market for item level RFID tagging of medicines, baggage, animals, books and tickets grows strongly in value. In 2008, 6.8 billion tags will be sold for these applications as well as 15.3 billion tags for pallets and cases.

The market for RFID interrogators or tag readers is expected to reach $1.14 billion in 2008 for EPC interrogators and $750 million in the same year for other interrogators, such as those for Near Field Communication. Forecasts by territorial region show that by 2010, 48 percent of RFID tags by volume will be sold in East Asia, followed by 32 percent to North America.
The research shows growth and market forecasts for chipless RFID tags, tags which contain no silicon chip, tags in the form of smart tickets and cards, and semi-passive and active tags. In 2010, 15 percent of all tags will be chipless, such as printed thin-film transistor circuits and Surface Acoustic Wave Devices, rising to 55 percent in 2013 as sub-five cent tags become ubiquitous.

But how to keep your privacy? – RFID “Washer” Gives Consumers Privacy Protection.

Many consumers have privacy concerns about radio frequency identification tags (RFID) that will eventually replace barcodes on products. For example, readers outside of a store could identify what you are carrying by picking up the tags’ signals. Now a UK company is promising to help consumers find and kill those pesky tags with their RFIDwasher.

Another device is the TagZapper — a small handheld device that “zaps” or deactivates RFID transmitting devices. Tagzapper has been developed by US-based West End Laboratories to be a light weight, handheld, device for deactivating RFID transmitting devices, preventing thus RFID readers from performing scanning and tracking of people or goods.

These products will be available by the end of 2005.

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