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RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2022-2032

The complete analysis of the global RFID industry


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IDTechEx has studied the RFID market for almost 20 years. Our RFID market research report, "RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2022-2032", provides a comprehensive overview covering passive RFID (for UHF, HF and LF frequencies), battery assisted passive, active RFID and chipless RFID technologies, players, and markets. This report presents an unbiased analysis of primary data gathered through our interviews with key players throughout the value chain (many of whom supply data to us under non-disclosure agreements that allow us to aggregate the data into a total) as well as secondary data from all available sources, and it builds on our expertise in the RFID industry. This report gives extensive forecasts and depth that no other source can match.
 
Current market and outlook
Despite a 5% decline in the global RFID market in 2020 compared to 2019, due to COVID-19's influence, the market rebounded well in 2021. The global RFID market is expected to be worth $11.6 billion in 2021, rising to $12.2 billion in 2022, according to IDTechEx. This comprises RFID labels, cards, fobs, and any other form factors, as well as tags, readers, and software/services for both passive and active RFID.
 
COVID-19 is accelerating digital transformation. For example, IDTechEx has observed the retail business, the largest RFID application sector in terms of tag numbers, adopting RFID at a quicker rate. According to IDTechEx, retail apparel alone will require over 20 billion RFID labels in 2022 - although there is still some way to go, with RFID accounting for just roughly 26 percent of the entire addressable market for apparel in 2022. In the HF sector, contactless card sales remain the strongest, driven mostly by contactless payment, transportation, and secure access applications, with 2.6 billion cards demanded in 2021. In the LF sector, animal tagging (such as pigs, lambs, and pets) continues to be significant since it is still a legal obligation in many more regions, with 640 million tags being used in this sector in 2021.
 
In total, IDTechEx predicts that 28.4 billion passive RFID tags will be sold in 2021, up from 23.8 billion in 2020, representing a double-digit growth rate. The majority of such expansion is due to passive UHF RFID labels. However, in 2021, UHF (RAIN RFID) tag sales by value will be just 30% of HF tag sales (including NFC), owing to the higher price point of HF tags used for security (such as payments, access, etc.) against the cheaper, largely disposable UHF (RAIN) tags used for tagging items.
 
In-depth market analysis
We assess the RFID industry in a variety of ways using new and unique information gathered globally by IDTechEx research analysts. Each market is thoroughly examined, with detailed historical data by application type provided from 2005 to 2020, followed by a prediction from 2021 and every year thereafter until 2027. We also provide a long-term forecast for 2032. Key forecasts including in this report are listed below:
 
1. 10-year prediction of tag numbers, average sales price, and market value of Passive RFID, Battery-assisted Passive RFID, Active RFID, and RFID readers
 
Forecasts for passive RFID are given separately for each of the application areas listed below:
 
Additionally, the report provides units, average selling price and total value for RFID readers in the following categories:
 
2. 10-year total RFID market value forecast (including hardware, software, and integration) by application types
 
The research conducted by IDTechEx ultimately provides ten-year forecasts by application area including tags, readers, software and services for the following markets:
 
 
Data is also provided for other sectors including trends by territory, value chain positioning, NFC, chip vs chipless and more. Cumulative sales of RFID are analyzed. Progress of key companies is provided in addition to a matrix of hundreds of suppliers.
 
A price teardown is conducted for the two main types of passive RFID inlays - UHF and HF RFID.
 
Key questions answered in this report
IDTechEx evaluates the key data in this report to answer key questions such as:
 
  • How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the RFID market?
  • Which industries are thriving, and which are under performing?
  • Which are the most profitable suppliers, and why?
  • What are the industries that are gaining the most traction?
  • What are the remaining barriers that need to be addressed before we see large adoption?
  • What are the emerging technologies that are threats to RFID?
  • And much more.
 
For example, IDTechEx discovered that there are now emerging or established leaders in most places of the value chain across the various technologies after conducting comprehensive interviews with suppliers, but that only a few businesses had revenues of more than $100 million. There are still numerous opportunities, which are evaluated in this report.
 
Our level of detailed analysis allows us to account for data throughout the value chain, for example, inlay sales lag behind the number of IC sales by several months which is considered in our forecasts.
 
Who are the winners and emerging winners?
In the "RFID Forecasts, Players and Opportunities 2022-2032" report, major players in various parts of the value chain are identified, and current and potential major orders and milestones are examined. Those who do well in terms of sales figures are sometimes less impressive in terms of dollars taken, and vice versa. Naturally, not everyone will choose to serve the most "price-constrained", high-volume markets. For them, we look at several significant niches that are emerging as well as a few smaller opportunities with even less competition.
Analyst access from IDTechEx
All report purchases include up to 30 minutes telephone time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you're addressing. This needs to be used within three months of purchasing the report.
Further information
If you have any questions about this report, please do not hesitate to contact our report team at research@IDTechEx.com or call one of our sales managers:

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Table of Contents
1.EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
1.1.Brief History of RFID
1.2.RFID Market to 2032
1.3.Total RFID Market Size 2019-2032, $ billions
1.4.Market size by tag value by application 2019-2032, $ millions
1.5.Market size by application (incl. hardware, software, and integration) 2019-2032, $ billions
1.6.Largest markets in 2022 vs 2032
1.7.Governments spend big on RFID
1.8.Non-government successes
1.9.Favourite RFID frequencies
1.10.Value chain and RFID tag types
1.11.RFID companies by gross sales
1.12.RFID market forecasts for passive RFID tags by application and frequency
1.13.Passive UHF (RAIN) RFID tag numbers 2019-2032, millions
1.14.Average sales price of passive UHF (RAIN) RFID by application 2019-2032, US cents
1.15.Total Value of UHF (RAIN) RFID inlays by application 2019-2032, $ millions
1.16.RAIN RFID: The Highlights
1.17.UHF (RAIN) RFID Trends
1.18.UHF (RAIN) RFID Tag Value 2019-2032, $ millions
1.19.RAIN RFID ICs versus tag numbers sold
1.20.Passive HF (13.56MHz, NFC) RFID tag numbers 2019-2032, millions
1.21.HF/NFC RFID: The Highlights
1.22.Passive LF (125KHz, 134KHz) RFID tag numbers 2019-2032, millions
1.23.Average sales price of passive LF (13.56MHz) RFID by application 2019-2032, US cents
1.24.Total value of LF RFID inlays and cards by application 2019-2032, $ millions
1.25.LF RFID: The Highlights
1.26.RFID market forecasts for battery assisted passive RFID, active RFID tag numbers 2019-2032, millions
1.27.Average sales price of battery assisted passive and active RFID by application 2019-2032, US cents
1.28.Total value of battery assisted and active RFID by application 2019-2032, $ millions
1.29.Change in active RFID systems due to BLE and LPWAN
1.30.Trends by territory
1.31.Progress with RFID in China
1.32.RFID and IoT
1.33.The IoT Ecosystem
1.34.Overview of wireless technologies
1.35.Impediments to the growth of RFID markets
1.36.Threats to passive RFID: machine vision?
1.37.Threats to passive RFID: facial recognition system cases
1.38.Outlook for RFID
2.INTRODUCTION, HISTORIC RFID SALES, AND ADDRESSABLE OPPORTUNITY
2.1.Introduction
2.1.1.RFID
2.1.2.RFID operating principles
2.1.3.RFID system choices
2.1.4.RFID technologies: the big picture
2.1.5.Passive RFID
2.1.6.Passive RFID Systems
2.1.7.Battery Assisted Passive /Semi Active tags
2.1.8.Examples of Battery Assisted Passive (BAP) RFID sensors
2.1.9.Active RFID
2.1.10.Distinguishing things a long way away with active RFID
2.1.11.Real Time Locating Systems (RTLS)
2.1.12.Change in active RFID systems due to BLE and LPWAN
2.1.13.Chipless/printed RFID
2.1.14.RFID Sensors: main choices
2.1.15.RFID sensors
2.1.16.The RFID value chain
2.1.17.Applications of RFID
2.2.Historic RFID tag sales 2005 to 2018
2.2.1.2005 tag sales in units, ASP, tag value $ millions
2.2.2.2008 tag sales in units, ASP, tag value $ millions
2.2.3.2011 tag sales in units, ASP, tag value $ millions
2.2.4.2014 tag sales in units, ASP, tag value $ millions
2.2.5.2015 tag sales in units, ASP, tag value $ millions
2.2.6.2016 tag sales in units, ASP, tag value $ millions
2.2.7.2017 tag sales in units, ASP, tag value $ millions
2.2.8.2018 tag sales in units, ASP, tag value $ millions
2.2.9.RFID Standards (ISO)
2.2.10.UHF (RAIN) RFID Trends
2.2.11.Four Drivers of RAIN RFID
2.2.12.EPC Gen2v2
2.2.13.Near Field Communication (NFC)
2.2.14.Comparison of NFC enabled devices and contactless smart cards
2.2.15.RFID Systems/Middleware
2.2.16.RFID Software Business
2.2.17.Impediments to highest volume RFID
3.MARKETS BY APPLICATION AND VALUE CHAIN POSITION
3.1.Introduction
3.1.1.RFID Market Size
3.1.2.Total RFID Market Size 2019-2032, $ billions
3.1.3.Market size by tag value by application 2019-2032, $ millions
3.1.4.Market size by application, hardware and software 2019-2032, $ billions
3.1.5.Prevalence of RFID projects for each applicational sector
3.1.6.Future trend of projects for each applicational sector
3.1.7.Current and future forms of payback by applicational sector
3.2.Healthcare and pharmaceuticals
3.2.1.RFID in Healthcare and pharmaceuticals
3.2.2.Example of RFID paybacks: Healthcare and pharmaceuticals
3.2.3.Real Time Locating Systems
3.2.4.Recent UHF RFID adoption in healthcare sectors
3.2.5.Barriers of RFID adoption in healthcare sectors
3.3.Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods
3.3.1.Pallet/case tagging: false start
3.3.2.Retail apparel, item level
3.3.3.COVID-19 impact on retail apparel
3.3.4.Retail Apparel Payback
3.3.5.Examples of retailers using RAIN RFID and growing
3.3.6.RFID for anti-counterfeiting
3.3.7.METI, Japan, target 100 billion tags/year by 2025
3.3.8.IDTechEx view on the METI announcement
3.3.9.Case Study: RFID Demand Pull
3.4.Airline
3.4.1.Airlines and Airports
3.4.2.COVID-19 impact on aviation sector
3.4.3.Competing technologies to RFID: Computer vision
3.5.Postal and courier services
3.5.1.Postal and courier services
3.5.2.First worldwide project for tracking postal cargo using UHF RFID
3.6.Secure access and contactless payment
3.6.1.Secure access and contactless payment
3.6.2.The rise of digital payment
3.7.Smart ticketing
3.7.1.Smart Ticketing
3.7.2.Smart Ticketing vs Contactless Payments
3.7.3.Smart Ticketing vs Facial recognition payments
3.8.Logistics, Asset Tracking, Manufacturing
3.8.1.Logistics, Asset Tracking, Manufacturing
3.8.2.Tracking Logistics Containers
3.8.3.RFID tracks automotive body panels
3.8.4.RFID in food and other logistics industry
3.9.Laundry/rented textiles
3.9.1.Laundry/rented textiles
3.9.2.NFC antennas incorporated in textiles
3.9.3.HID Global acquired Invengo Textile business
3.10.Others
3.10.1.E-Passports
3.10.2.Animals
3.10.3.RFID provides more consumer engagement and use data
3.10.4.RFID embedded in consumer electronics devices
3.11.RFID sensors
3.11.1.RFID Sensors: main choices
3.11.2.Passive RFID Sensors (Electronic): Case Studies
3.11.3.Passive UHF RFID Sensors with Printed Electronics
3.11.4.RFID (e.g. NFC) sensors: hybrid systems
3.11.5.LG Sensing Smart Card: Commercial product with a printed antenna to test water salinity. Launched in Korea
3.11.6.Thin finger print sensors using organic photodetectors
3.12.Analysis of RFID case studies
3.12.1.Analysis of RFID case studies
4.PASSIVE RFID: TAG COST TEARDOWN, MARKET VALUE AND EMERGING TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS
4.1.Introduction
4.1.1.Passive RFID tags, total number 2019-2032, $ billions
4.1.2.Passive RFID tags, market value, 2019-2032, $ millions
4.1.3.RFID Range versus cost
4.1.4.Passive RFID: Technologies by Operating Frequency
4.1.5.Anatomy of passive HF and UHF tags
4.1.6.Challenges in contacting HF/NFC coils
4.1.7.Antenna Technology Choices
4.1.8.Antenna Manufacturing Technologies: Comparison Table
4.1.9.RFID Antennas: New Technologies
4.1.10.IC Attachment
4.1.11.IC attachment processes
4.1.12.Inlay assembly today
4.1.13.Label Conversion
4.1.14.RFID Manufacturing trends
4.1.15.Passive RFID price teardown, HF and UHF
4.1.16.Surviving in a commodity inlay market
4.1.17.Chipless RFID or Flexible/Printed IC Passive tags
4.1.18.Flexible metal oxide ICs
4.1.19.Benefits of flexible/printed logic
4.1.20.Save on IC attach cost?
4.1.21.IMEC / Holst Centre Roadmap
4.1.22.Smart tags with a flexible silicon IC
4.1.23.'Sensor-less' sensing of temperature and movement
4.2.Threats to passive RFID
4.2.1.Threats to passive RFID: machine vision?
4.2.2.Facial recognition system
4.2.3.Passive Bluetooth
5.MARKET DATA FOR PASSIVE UHF (RAIN) RFID
5.1.Passive UHF (RAIN) RFID tag numbers 2019-2032, millions
5.2.Average sales price of passive UHF (RAIN) RFID by application 2019-2032, US cents
5.3.Total Value of UHF (RAIN) RFID inlays by application 2019-2032, $ millions
5.4.UHF (RAIN) RFID Trends
5.5.Comment on methodology
6.MARKET DATA FOR PASSIVE HF (AND NFC) RFID
6.1.Passive HF (13.56MHz, NFC) RFID tag numbers 2019-2032, millions
6.2.Average sales price of passive HF (13.56MHz) RFID by application 2019-2032, US cents
6.3.Total value of HF (13.56MHz) RFID inlays and cards by application 2019-2032, $ millions
7.MARKET DATA FOR PASSIVE LF RFID
7.1.Passive LF (125KHz, 134KHz) RFID tag numbers 2019-2032, millions
7.2.Average sales price of passive LF (13.56MHz) RFID by application 2019-2032, US cents
7.3.Total value of LF RFID inlays and cards by application 2019-2032, $ millions
8.MARKETS AND PROFITABILITY OF ACTIVE RFID
8.1.Active RFID Market
8.2.Change in active RFID systems due to BLE and LPWAN
8.3.How many competing LPWAN technologies?
8.4.Overview of wireless technologies
8.5.Wireless network options for IoT nowadays
8.6.RFID market forecasts for battery assisted passive RFID, active RFID tag numbers 2019-2032, millions
8.7.Average sales price of battery assisted passive and active RFID by application 2019-2032, US cents
8.8.Total value of battery assisted and active RFID by application 2019-2032, $ millions
9.MARKET FOR RFID INTERROGATORS (RFID READERS)
9.1.Overview
9.2.RFID Interrogator (reader) numbers 2019-2032, millions
9.3.RFID Interrogator (reader) price 2019-2032, US cents
9.4.RFID Interrogator (reader) market value 2019-2032, $ millions
10.MARKETS BY COUNTRY
10.1.Leading countries
10.2.Asia RFID Use: Key Conclusions
10.3.USA RFID Use: Key Conclusions
10.4.Europe RFID Use: Key Conclusions
10.5.Trends by territory
11.SUCCESSES, FAILURES, TRENDS, OPPORTUNITIES
11.1.Introduction
11.1.1.Dynamics of the RFID value chain
11.1.2.Tag manufacturing value chain
11.1.3.Successes and revenues
11.1.4.Key company acquisition
11.1.5.RFID profitability
11.2.Largest orders, best selling products, dominant suppliers in future
11.2.1.Largest suppliers of chips
11.2.2.Largest suppliers of tags, inlets, straps and detailed value chain for high volume
11.2.3.Examples of companies in the chip to label value chain
11.2.4.UHF RFID readers
11.2.5.Equipment supply
11.2.6.Outlook for RFID
APPENDIX 1: RFID SOLUTION PROVIDERS
The RFID value chain
Company profile list
 

Report Statistics

Slides 297
Forecasts to 2032
ISBN 9781913899813
 
 
 
 

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