The
worldwide RFID market will exceed $5.3 billion in 2008, according to a new
forecast from ABI Research. Annual revenue growth will increase over the next
five years, accelerating over the mid-term as high-growth, high-volume
applications such as supply chain management, ID documents, ticketing and
contactless payment drive shipments.
Excluding
automobile immobilization, the market is expected to experience a 15% compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2008 through 2013. Forecasts peg the market at
$9.8 billion in 2013, or approximately $8.2 billion without automobile
immobilization.
According
to research director Michael Liard, "To a casual observer the five-year CAGR for
the RFID market as a whole may not seem impressive at face value. In this case,
however, ABI Research notes that traditional applications with single-digit and
low-double digit five-year compound annual growth rates continue to dominate
current and near-term RFID market revenue share. In terms of overall market
growth, if these 'traditional' applications - access control, automatic vehicle
identification, automobile immobilization, and ID documents - are removed from
the equation, the 2008-2013 CAGR for total RFID systems revenue exceeds
20%."
ABI
Research believes it is still too early to tell what impact the state of the
global economy will have on the RFID market. Investments are still being made in
RFID companies, consolidation continues, and contracts are being awarded.
of economic events is often not immediate, however, and we expect to be in a
better position to gauge how the economy is impacting RFID adoption and spending
at the end of the year. In our opinion it often takes three to six months for
any economic impact to be felt. Many of the vendors and users we have asked
about a potential slowdown indicate no real change in RFID projects as
yet."
The
latest release of ABI Research's RFID Forecasts provides extensive data on RFID revenues
and unit shipments, segmented by technology, application, and vertical market
(aerospace & defense, automotive, commercial services, diverse
manufacturing, government [non-military], health care/life sciences, retail
consumer packaged goods [CPG], retail in store, transportation & logistics,
and "other").
It
is a component of the firm's RFID & Contactless Research
Service.