New report finds Smartcards a wise investment
More than 2.9 billion will be shipped in 2006, a 20 percent increase; ePassports and national ID cards lead the way; European and Asian sectors look strong, but China will manufacture its own IDs
Not that anyone should be surprised, but the smart card industry is booming these days as both business and government look to RF-enabled chips as a way of tracking persons and products. According to vendor trade association Eurosmart, more than 2.9 billion SIM, banking, and identification smart cards will be shipped in 2007, up 20 percent from 2006. The fastest growth, the group said, would come from ID and security cards, especially for the health care industry and the U.S.-mandated ePassport system. Demand for cards associated with the latter is estimated to grow at least 50 percent in the next year, mirroring growth from the year before. All told, vendors are expected to ship 40-50 million of the ePassports.
Eurosmart also predicts strong growth in the European and Asian sectors, including large sales for second-generation health cards issued in Germany and France, contactless driver’s licenses in Japan, and national ID cards in Belgium, Italy, and Sweden. China, however, which plans to issue 250 million national ID cards next year following a rollout of 150 million this year, will not see any imports. The chips for the new cards are being shippied only by Chinese companies.
-read more in this Card Technology report
