Skip to main content

Passive RFID grows by 1.12 billion tags in 2014 to 6.9 billion

More than five years later than the industry had expected, market research and events firm IDTechEx find that the passive RFID tag market is now seeing tremendous volume growth. Market research and events firm IDTechEx find that the passive RFID tag market is now seeing tremendous volume growth - more than five years later than the industry had expected. Most of the growth is based on retailer adoption of UHF RFID for shelf-level stock replenishment, with the latest example being fashion retailer Zara r
October 31, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
More than five years later than the industry had expected, market research and events firm 6582 IDTechEx find that the passive RFID tag market is now seeing tremendous volume growth.

Market research and events firm IDTechEx find that the passive RFID tag market is now seeing tremendous volume growth - more than five years later than the industry had expected. Most of the growth is based on retailer adoption of UHF RFID for shelf-level stock replenishment, with the latest example being fashion retailer Zara recently announcing its intention to roll out RFID to approximately 2,000 stores by 2016.

IDTechEx forecast in the new report, RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2014-2024, that 25 billion RFID tags will be used on retail apparel and shoes in 2020 and a similar number on other ‘high value, high complexity mix’ items. Many other segments are taking off thanks to standardised, reliable technology where applications outside of retail are leveraging the considerable investment put in by RFID suppliers to address retailer needs.

Average tag prices in HF RFID are typically higher than UHF tags, often due to the need for greater security and therefore IC complexity, for example for payment applications. While NFC has been a failure so far due to lack of resolve between payment, telecoms and phone companies, it may be that Apple sets it on the right path and NFC begins to see traction over the coming years.

IDTechEx has found some striking territorial differences, as summarized in the chart below. UHF adoption is strongest in the US and Europe, and relatively weak in Asia in terms of number of tags, although tag production is increasingly moving there. In contrast, HF adoption has been strong in all territories, but particularly in Asia.

Overall, IDTechEx find that in 2014, the total RFID market is worth US$8.89 billion, up from US$7.77 billion in 2013 and US$6.96 billion in 2012. This includes tags, readers and software/services for RFID cards, labels, fobs and all other form factors. IDTechEx forecast that to rise to US$27.31 billion in 2024.

Related Content

  • January 22, 2016
    Growth of China ETC market
    According to the latest report from Research and Markets, by the end of 2014, the mileage of toll highways in China amounted to 162,600 km, including 106,700 km of toll expressways, accounting for 65.7per cent; there were 1,665 mainline toll stations on toll highways nationwide, 696.5 of which were the ones on expressways, making up 41.8 per cent. The report, China ETC (Electronic Toll Collection) Industry Report, 2015-2019, claims that by the end of Oct 2015, China had had 25.15 million electronic toll col
  • September 19, 2017
    Vehicle analytics market ‘to grow by 26 per cent by 2022’
    A new market research report by MarketsandMarkets estimates that the market for vehicle analytics will grow from US$1124.1 million in 2017 to US$3637.4 million by 2022, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26.5 per cent. According to the report, the major driving factor for this market remains advances in technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive maintenance to enhance fleet management, as well as increasing use of real-time data collected from sensors and
  • August 4, 2014
    World ITS market expected to grow at a steady rate to 2020
    The global market for intelligent transportation systems (ITS) is expected to reach US$38.68 billion by 2020, according to a new study by Grand View Research. Growing demand for optimising fuel consumption and reducing emissions is expected to be the key driving force for the market. ITS aids in reducing incidents such as road accidents and boost safety, which is estimated to positively impact demand over the next six years.
  • October 5, 2015
    New report sheds light on the road safety market
    MarketsandMarkets’ latest report, Road Safety Market by Types (Highways and Bridges Safety, Urban Roads Safety and Tunnels Safety) & Systems (Red Light Enforcement, Speed Limit Enforcement, Bus Lane Enforcement, Communication, Incident Detection) - Worldwide Market Forecast (2014-2019) claims that major driving factors responsible for the growth of the market are the constant need for road safety and public security, new infrastructural development, and traffic congestion and longer commuting. The significa