No Signs of Slowing Down

There is no shortage of applications for RFID and printed electronics.

October 2008 by Chris Mc Loone

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RFID and printed electronics—these two emerging technologies represent a tremendous amount of potential growth for package printers and label converters across the globe. Neither technology has hit the mainstream yet, so usage is not widespread. However, package and label printers should be watching each. Why? If, as Peter Harrop, chairman, IDTechEx predicts, we are only 10 years away from RFID being as ubiquitous as bar codes (only printed on labels), then label printers will have to integrate RFID tags into their workflows. And, once RFID is printed, watch out!

The global market

In “Vibrant RFID -Markets,” a publication issued by IDTechEx, Harrop states that the global RFID market “continues its rapid growth as record orders up to $0.5 billion each are serviced.” The U.S. and China are doing the most with RFID. This year demand is on target for $5.3 billion globally, the document states. The majority of the money spent on RFID relates to passive tag systems. However, RFID is prospering at all levels, according to Harrop.

“What PolyIC can say,” says Wolfgang Mildner, managing director, PolyIC (a producer of printed electronics), “is that growth is not developing as fast as it was expected. However, we observe there is increasing interest in RFID.” He adds that although the RFID market is not totally within PolyIC’s focus, “it struck us that the number of companies that are interested in RFID is continually increasing. But it takes time until companies decide to introduce a technology like RFID into their processes.”

Rhagu Das, CEO of IDTechEx, agrees. “In RFID, there is steady growth—not as fast as people had hoped, but the market is increasing by 20 percent or so per year in value,” he says. “In 2007, 1.7 billion tags were sold. In 2008, we think it is 2.16 billion. And, 2009 will be about 3 billion,” he adds.

Gerald Steinwasser, general manager, Muhlbauer, Inc., says that the RFID market is growing slowly but steadily, and printed electronics is still in the R&D stages and has only a few commercial applications. Wim Zoomer, account manager, Stork Prints, BV, adds, “The markets extend, but at a slow speed.”

As for the global market for printed electronics, Das says in his publication, “Large Niche Market for Printed Electronics,” that, “there is probably too much chasing of the obvious by printed electronics companies. For example, transistor printers dream of making RFID and display backplane drivers because these are obvious, quantifiable opportunities, yet most of the potential market may well lie elsewhere in a number of large niche opportunities.”

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