This article was originally published by RFID Update.
March 6, 2006—Research firm IDTechEx of Cambridge has released a report on the real-time location systems (RTLS) market and its growth prospects over the next decade. Listed below are key findings from Real Time Locating Systems 2006-2016:
- The RTLS market will explode over the next ten years, growing from an “esoteric niche market” to one worth $2.71 billion in 2016.
- Well under 100 suppliers will contribute to the RTLS value chain this year. That number will increase to roughly 200 in 2010, then to 500 in 2016.
- As evidence of this extremely aggressive ramp, the RTLS market has tripled in the last year alone.
- Historically, RTLS “consisted of very short range infra-red systems and complex, multiple antenna, multiple beam long range RFID”. Only 900 such systems have been sold to date, according to IDTechEx.
- IDTechEx credits “portability” and “affordability” as the leading stimulants to the recent uptick in demand.
- Unlike the passive RFID market, for whom ongoing tag sales will be a key contributor, the RTLS market will see more diversification in its revenue sources. IDTechEx pegs it as a “systems” business rather than a commodity business.
- IDTechEx predicts the 2016 RTLS market will breakdown as follows: $406.5 million (15%) on hardware, $677.5 (25%) million on tags, $813 million (30%) on software, and $813 million (30%) on services.
- A few household names are eyeing the RTLS space, including Mitsubishi, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Motorola.
- RTLS will contribute to 40% of the total active RFID market by 2016.
- Existing RTLS solutions operate primarily in the 300-433.92 MHz range. However, 2.4 GHz will soon emerge as solution vendors’ frequency of choice. This shift is largely due to the recent application to RTLS of technologies which use 2.4 GHz: WiFi, Bluetooth, and ZigBee, as examples.
- The manufacturing, military, healthcare, and postal/courier verticals will be the heaviest users of RTLS.
For additional perspective on the RTLS market, see the following three RFID Update articles by Yankee analyst Marcus Torchia:
- RTLS Market To Exceed $1.6 Billion by 2010
- Overview of 802.11 RTLS Vendors
- Overview of Legacy RTLS Vendors
Read the announcement from IDTechEx
