How Transitional Is the RFID Industry in Europe and Asia?

I read the article “Always a Bigger Fish” and was impressed with this overview, showing a clear trend in this industry. While I understand that there is no information on transaction prices, it to me still seems difficult to assess whether such activity is directed to buying orders and if such a frenzy is truly beneficial or pure speculation. The Harvard people write “An analysis of 2,500 such deals by our firm shows that more than 60% of them destroy shareholder value. Perhaps such deals should come with an official warning: Acquisitions can result in serious damage to your corporate health, up to and including death.” I also wonder if you have information on other regions, mainly Europe but also China, where similar trends seem to exist. HID, for instance, also bought LUX Ident in the Czech Republic, and things in China, for example, have become completely obscure. Anybody with meaningful answers out there?

—Peter

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Peter,

Thanks for your comment. The industry does indeed look transitional right now. The high volume of orders around supply chain issues has made forecasting a challenge, for sure. However, the overall assessment is that RFID purchasing, beyond orders, is rising. In the meantime, acquisitions are having a global impact. In Europe and beyond, Beontag is continuing to increase its value propositions, with Confidex, Temera and Lab-ID just in the past year. And, of course, HID Global’s acquisition of Omni-ID is going to strengthen HID’s market presence in India and China, which will mean a global impact—something that is going to be significant across the continents, as Gartner analyst Unni Sandeep recently pointed out to me as well.

Claire Swedberg
Senior Editor
RFID Journal