The RFID industry is only a $1 billion industry, however recent advances show potential for enormous growth. The highest potential for growth can be found in the following RFID applications: securing baggage handling, access control and supply chain management. Additionally, significant RFID growth will occur through the replacement of other traditional, outdated, products including identification badges, bar codes and tracking products.

Advances in technology have made it possible to link RFID products with surveillance technology. Integrating these two systems together not only improves security measures, but also helps RFID expansion.

The high cost significantly of RFID products severely limited the adoption of RFID in basic industrial and military applications. However products within this market have begun to decrease in price and size. Over the past 10 years, technological advances have decreased the price of RFID products. In some cases, the prices are down from $10 a tag to $1 a tag. Future advances in technology and economies of scales are expected to decrease prices even further. Tags are expected to fall to prices as low as $0.50-$0.10 in the near future. As a result, RFID has recently started to penetrate the commercial security market and is expected to further enter it.

RFID products are projected to replace barcode products, an estimated $6.5 billion industry, shortly after the year 2005. The sooner the price of RFID products drops, the sooner this will happen.

The RFID market is expected to grow at a rate of 20% per year, not taking into account additional penetration into the barcode industry.

• Symbol Technologies
• Checkpoint Systems
• Texas Instruments
• Tyco