Global RFID market to reach $5.3 billion this year

The worldwide RFID market will exceed $5.3 billion in 2008, according to a new forecast from ABI Research. Annual revenue growth will increase over the next five years, accelerating over the mid-term as high-growth, high-volume applications such as supply chain management, ID documents, ticketing and contactless payment drive shipments.

Excluding automobile immobilization, the market is expected to experience a 15% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2008 through 2013. Forecasts peg the market at $9.8 billion in 2013, or approximately $8.2 billion without automobile immobilization.

ABI Research believes it is still too early to tell what impact the state of the global economy will have on the RFID market. Investments are still being made in RFID companies, consolidation continues, and contracts are being awarded.

According to research director Michael Liard:

To a casual observer the five-year CAGR for the RFID market as a whole may not seem impressive at face value. In this case, however, ABI Research notes that traditional applications with single-digit and low-double digit five-year compound annual growth rates continue to dominate current and near-term RFID market revenue share. In terms of overall market growth, if these “traditional’ applications – access control, automatic vehicle identification, automobile immobilization, and ID documents – are removed from the equation, the 2008-2013 CAGR for total RFID systems revenue exceeds 20%.