As the $5 billion RFID market moves strongly to over $25 billion in ten years, advances are on a broad front. This year, the IDTechEx RFID Europe conference in Cambridge UK 18-19 September is growing and widening its scope to reflect this booming industry. RFID is an enabling technology that provides safety, security, cost reduction, increased sales, reduced crime and much more. In this article the author, Dr. Peter Harrop looks at some recent examples.

The term Active RFID incorporates many technologies including Real Time Locating Systems, Ubiquitous Sensor Networks and Active RFID with Zigbee, RuBee, Ultra Wide Band and WiFi. A new research report by IDTechEx

The future $300 billion market for printed electronics is emerging via thin film electronics. The contribution of organic materials to this is greatly publicized but the best devices being developed usually rely on inorganic or combined inorganic/organic technology. The more select groups developing these inorganic materials and devices have a great future. IDTechEx has published the first study on Inorganic Printed and Thin Film Electronics. Here Dr Peter Harrop summarises some of the findings.

The market for RFID continues to surge forward, with investments, acquisitions and orders at record levels. The premier European IDTechEx conference RFID Europe, on the 18-19 September in Cambridge UK, will air all these aspects.

Airports and airlines have been trialling RFID baggage tagging for at least fifteen years. There has been significant delay while they kept trialling incompatible solutions. However, that has now changed.

With about $5 billion being spent on RFID in 2007, of which about $2.24 billion is for tags, what are the favourite RFID specifications?

The prices of RFID tags and systems vary widely between applicational sectors. To some extent this is driven by their various levels of required complexity but the primary driving force is the competitive landscape of both the user and the supplier.

The main emphasis of RFID use and supply has radically changed course. That was the message of the large IDTechEx RFID Smart Labels USA event in Boston last week. The business is booming in just about every sector other than the supply of pallet and case tagging to retailer and military mandates.

IDTechEx has interviewed key RFID adopters and solution providers in the various applicational RFID markets. This research has been analysed in a brand new report giving an unprecedented level of insight into the total RFID industry and what is really happening. Raghu Das, CEO of IDTechEx, summarizes some of the findings.

Novel, Water-based Conductive Ink from Acheson Improves RFID Antenna Production

In the last few weeks alone, orders for well over US$100 million of contactless (ie RFID) smart cards and associated systems have been placed. The business is surging forward with the percentage of smart cards that are contactless rising to 16% of deliveries in 2007 after having been stuck at around 5% for the preceding twenty years. Learn more.

The RFID business is booming on a broad front, with most sectors profitable, aside from the shakeout in supplying readers and labels for consumer goods companies.

RFID is being adopted worldwide but with very great differences of emphasis as revealed by the IDTechEx Knowledgebase of over 2450 case studies in 92 countries. This is a tale of four, very different continents.

In 2007, approximately 650 billion articles will be sent through postal and courier systems around the world. After retail, the tagging of each postal item is the next largest potential market for RFID by volume of tags. There are numerous significant RFID roll-outs in this sector which are under publicized, and here Raghu Das from IDTechEx summarises the latest progress.

As we enter 2007, many RFID suppliers are licking their wounds, while for others, RFID business is booming. As IDTechEx interview solution providers and users across the RFID industry for the new report RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2007-2017 to be released in January, Raghu Das, CEO, summarizes some of the findings.

With the launch of an RFID Investment Summit to be held in Boston on Feb 20, Raghu Das, CEO of IDTechEx looks at the recent investor interest in RFID and particularly active RFID and Real Time Locating Systems.

Despite some areas under performing, most of the RFID business is booming. Here IDTechEx has interviewed key companies in different vertical sectors. We present their comments on the opportunity for RFID in those sectors.

From inception to creating - all you need to know about manufacturing low cost high performance RFID

Where are the RFID success stories and in which market sectors? Here Teresa Henry highlights the leading adopter nations, the big spenders and surprise niches for RFID implementation.

Has the pallet/case market for RFID tags and other hardware become the nearest thing to a black hole in the RFID universe in 2006, thanks to reluctant mandated customers, technical problems and pricing for volumes that never came?