This article was originally published by RFID Update.
December 6, 2004—Often considered a metric for overall industry activity, RFID tag production looks ready to explode in 2005. Two of the biggest names in electronics, Texas Instruments and Philips Semiconductor, have long said that they will wait to begin tag production until the final ratification of EPCglobal’s second generation RFID data standard (“GEN 2”), at which point they will move forward aggressively. Indeed, both companies are reportedly planning RFID tag production in the millions as early as Q3 2005. New York-based tag manufacturer SmartCode announced two weeks ago that it will be capable of producing 30 billion tags annually by 2006.
These ambitious plans highlight the importance of GEN 2 ratification, a milestone the industry has been increasingly impatient to pass. Intermec earlier this month suspended its intellectual property licensing program, which opened the door for participating companies to develop proof-of-concept prototypes that test the standard’s viability without the threat of legal retribution. The gesture could prove crucial; there is speculation that GEN 2 might finally be approved at tomorrow’s EPCglobal board meeting.
Read the article at InformationWeek
