RFID tag sales in 2005 - how many and where

IDTechEx have surveyed suppliers and users of RFID to compile a list of the number of RFID tags which were DELIVERED in 2005. This totals just over 600 million tags (passive and active, across all frequencies). As a result, cumulative sales of RFID tags from their invention 60 years ago to the end of 2005 now total 2397 million. The breakdown of these sales are shown in the following table.

 

Total number of RFID tags delivered from 1944 to end of 2005 (millions)

Source: IDTechEx

 

The spend on RFID tags in 2005 was $1.2Bn and the total spend on RFID (including tags, readers, services etc) was $1.85Bn.

 

The biggest application for RFID in 2005 by volume and value is contactless smart cards, with 250 million delivered. About 150 million EPC tags have been delivered in 2005 for retail and other applications, due to increase in 2006 now that Gen 2 is becoming widely available.

 

The biggest single order for RFID delivered this year was tens of millions of RFID tickets working at 2.45GHz to the Tokyo World Trade Fair.

 

Increasingly, IDTechEx note the trend of vendors to supply high volume niche markets, many of which are undersupplied. There has also been significant technology developments at HF making this preferred in many cases where UHF struggles to work.

 

For more information of these developments, read the FREE December issue of the IDTechEx journal Smart Labels Analyst, downloadable from here.

 

Read the latest industry forecasts and trends in our new report containing a most comprehensive review and forecast of the RFID industry: RFID Forecasts, Players & Opportunities 2006-2016.