Novel applications of RFID to drive market to surpass $14B by 2017, ABI says

Companies, governments, and industries are increasingly turning to RFID as they look to modernize their operations, becoming more efficient and enabling quicker, more convenient service. The traditional uses of RFID for the identification of animals, people, and within the automotive sector are continuing to grow and are projected to increase by $2.8 billion from 2012 to 2017. However, ABI Research's new RFID Market Tracker found that modernizing RFID applications will grow twice as fast with annual revenues derived from these jumping by $4.5 billion in the same timeframe.

Asset tracking, supply chain management, baggage and cargo tracking, RTLS, contactless payment, and ticketing are all areas in which businesses are looking to operate in a quicker, smarter, and more secure manner. Practice director, John Devlin, said, “Despite the general economic malaise affecting much of the world, solutions and technologies that can deliver savings and provide wider benefit will attract investment. The business model and use case for RFID is now being better understood and real-world ROI can be demonstrated in a growing number of instances.”

The need to be able to improve manufacturing and supply chain efficiencies, as well as track and identify components, products, and assets is now being considered in a growing range of market sectors. The ability to add and implement greater security is another factor driving the growing adoption of RFID in both traditional and new applications.

Devlin added, “There will be an increasing need for companies and, in particular government organizations, to be able to track and authenticate their in-house assets and equipment as well as items and products provided and sold. Think of the supply of food and pharmaceutical products, as well as consumer electronics and automotive, from the farm or point of manufacture and onto consumption and use. Similarly the installation and maintenance of large projects, e.g. transportation and utilities, are of critical importance. We expect to see increasing use of RFID ahead of alternative solutions to provide this audit trail.”