RFID Smart Card business is booming

Apr 21, 2008 7:09 PM

Research and Markets announced the addition of >“NFC Mobile Phones Contactless Smart Cards” to its offering. Contactless smart cards are the largest RFID sector by far and the business is booming. From the $6 billion China national ID card scheme to the large sales of transport cards and tickets, transport-based purse cards replacing cash and secure access cards, this is a sector with many profitable suppliers, issuers and outlets.

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This major new report compares and contrasts contactless smart cards and tickets with NFC and other methods of using the mobile phone to replace the card or ticket. It has 80 figures and tables and four appendices of further information. It forecasts progress for the next 10 years with contactless smart cards, tickets and RFID enabled phones, from technology to applications, numbers and values. It is put in the context of smart cards prepaid cards and mobile phones as a whole.

The surprising conclusion is that there will be rapid growth in sales of all three alternatives for at least 10 years. We present a detailed analysis from the mix of microprocessor vs. memory cards by application, to regional differences and the performance of the major schemes and suppliers, user reactions and business opportunities.

Then we have the new market for contactless, bank-issued credit, debit and account cards in contactless form. Consumers prefer the fast transactions and reliability that come with contactless approaches but that means payment and access by mobile phone these days, not just contactless cards. These are alternatives, with pros and cons on either side.

Sales of the cards and their closely related systems will reach $4 billion in 10 years and the majority of phones will be RFID enabled within 10 years. Globally acknowledged experts pull together why, where and what next. Will the phone be enabled by a secure chip, the SIM card or the flash card? Will there be interoperability? Will Near Field Communication NFC catch up with the Japanese proprietary interface then conquer all?