Germany & UK Set to Drive $1bn West European RFID Market by 2007

Western European revenues for RFID* are set to reach $1.1bn by 2007, says a new report by Juniper Research, with Germany and the UK between them accounting for 40% of the market. The most significant application will be in the supply chain and logistics sector, where RFID will be used to drive increased efficiencies from producer to retailer. In the retail market success for RFID will come from niche applications such as the library sector, and within mass transportation.

The report also reveals:

--  Agreement of standards such as EPC Gen-2 is key to developing the
    market beyond today's limited trials.
--  Germany and the UK are the leading growth markets with significant
    developments taking place in the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland.
--  The most likely solution for companies operating in the supply chain
    will be to implement a mobility solution comprising a hybrid of RFID
    technology plus a mobile element such as GPS or GSM.
--  Opportunities exist for those companies with experience of
    implementing mobility solutions and business process re-engineering to
    offer assistance in implementing RFID.
    

The report provides a guide to the technology behind RFID and reviews activity in Europe to date. It identifies the key strategic issues associated with RFID implementations, and provides market forecasts with in Western Europe up to 2009.

"RFID in Europe is seen as a way of increasing business efficiencies. To date most trials have been in-house or between two trading partners, but as technology standards develop so businesses will have the confidence to deploy it more widely across their supply chains," said report authors Susan Griffin and Colin Williams.

Free white papers and further details of the study 'RFID Opportunities: Markets & Technologies in Western Europe' can be freely downloaded from www.juniperresearch.com. Alternatively, please contact Michele Ince at micheleince@juniperresearch.com. Telephone +44(0)1256 345612.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

*RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. The technology uses radio signals to communicate between a reading device and a small, electronic transponder called a 'tag'. RFID can be used to trace any item carrying these tags.

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