Jul 25, 2006This article was originally published by RFID Update.
July 25, 2006—Wealth and asset management firm Robert W. Baird & Co. has released its RFID Monthly for July. Baird has given RFID Update permission to reprint the Key Developments section (below), which offers the report highlights. For those wanting more detail, the complete 15-page document is available free here.
This month, the company has added Baird's RFID Index, a stock index which compares the average performance of 28 public companies with exposure to RFID to the performance of the NASDAQ and S&P 500. Data is included going all the way back to July 2004. As of July 15, the RFID index was down 5.5% versus a month prior, underperforming the NASDAQ (-5.0%) and S&P 500 (-1.6%).
RFID Monthly's standard matrix of primary RFID providers is on page 12, and following are the Key Developments:
- Gen2 Receives ISO Acceptance. EPCglobal announced that the International Standards Organization (ISO) has accepted UHF Generation 2 protocol into its ISO/IEC 1800-6 Amendment 1 as Type C on UHF RFID. We believe the acceptance by ISO will help promote Gen2 as a global standard and will advance the adoption of this standard worldwide.
- New Generation 2 Certification. STMicroelectronics announced that its XRAG2 chip has been certified as Gen2 compliant by EPCglobal. Production is expected to ramp during late 3Q06. Philips and Impinj have also been certified. Recall, Impinj is the only company currently in production. We expect other production to begin to ramp in late 3Q06. We see interoperability as becoming an increasingly important issue during the remainder of the year.
- Government Action on e-Pedigree for Pharma Continues to Move Forward. The subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources, a part of the Committee on Government Reform, held a meeting on the growing problem of counterfeit prescription drugs. Recall that the Federal government has decided to enforce the drug pedigree regulations in order to stem the flow of counterfeit drugs. In his opening statement, Committee Chairman Mark Souder made particular note of the use of RFID as a tool for providing an e-pedigree and a secure supply chain.
- Government Reviews of RFID Continue. A caucus on RFID was initiated by U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND). The purpose of the caucus is to promote RFID technology development by educating government officials and the public about the potential of RFID.
Download the full Baird RFID Monthly (pdf)
