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

  • August 19, 2016
    Surge in crime rate and terrorist activities in Europe ‘driving use of policing technologies’
    The Europe policing technologies market is expected to register a 6.0 per cent CAGR from 2016 to 2024, with the revenue set to increase from US$1.4 billion in 2015 to US$2.4 billion by the end of the forecast period, according to a new Transparency Market Research (TMR) report, Policing Technologies Market - Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024. Accounting for a share of 36 per cent in 2015, detection and surveillance technologies emerged as the leading policing
  • November 4, 2014
    Fleet management market ‘worth US$35billion by 2019’
    According to a new market research report Fleet Management Market by Components, Technologies and Services (Fleet Analytics, Vehicle Tracking & Fleet Monitoring, Telemetric, Vendor Services), by Fleet Vehicle Types (Trucks, Light Goods, Buses, Corporate Fleets, Container Ships, Aircrafts) - Global Forecast to 2019, published by MarketsandMarkets, the Fleet Management Market is expected to grow from US$12.06 billion in 2014 to US$35.35 billion by 2019, at an compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.0 per cen
  • November 4, 2014
    NFC adoption still years away as mPOS surges ahead, says Spire
    Near Field Communication (NFC) has failed to live up to its promise and widespread adoption is still years away, says Spire Payments.
  • November 18, 2014
    ITS needs data highways
    Transport and traffic data is on the increase but there must be an integrated data highway to derive the maximum ITS benefits, argues Deutsche Telekom. From public transport operators recording increasingly precise and comprehensive data on their vehicle’s position and driving behaviour to local authorities using RFID and video systems to control traffic on their streets and highways, the amount of traffic data is growing rapidly.