This article was originally published by RFID Update.
December 6, 2004—In response to naysaying in the RFID industry that the $0.05 cost of tags was further off than previously predicted, Mark Roberti, founder and editor of RFID Journal, in August offered to make a public wager asserting the contrary: $10,000 says that “end users will be able to buy passive UHF RFID tags for 5 cents in volumes of 1 million or more by the end of 2008.” Apparently the industry agrees: no one has taken the bet, whose offer expires at the end of this month. Roberti offered the bet in the hopes that someone would come forward with a reasoned argument against the prospect of nickel tags by ’08. According to Roberti’s logic, the volume of tags demanded by that time, which he predicts to be in the many billions, will mean that the silicon used in each RFID tag will be available for just over one cent. The cost challenge to overcome is actually in assembly of the tags. But a slew of companies, including Silicon Valley-based Alien Technology, Israel’s SmartCode, and Texas Instruments, among others, are working to improve that very assembly process. And companies like New Zealand’s Sandtracker (see story below) already claim to be close to producing 5-cent tags. Thus, the combined efforts of so many companies, compounded by the enormous projected demand, all but ensures the availability of $0.05 tags by the end of 2008. If you disagree, RFID Journal is still waiting for a challenger.
Read the article at RFID Journal
