In a recent report released by Venture Development Corp., EM Microelectronic(Marin, Switzerland) was rated the #1 supplier of RFID transponder ICs in 2002. In the study VDC(Natick, MA) estimates that total unit shipments for 2002 for all suppliers were 295.4 million units, with global revenues reaching $75.9 million. In total, EM Microelectronic has deployed more than three times as many RFID ICs units worldwide as its closest competitor, the study revealed.
Michael Liard, senior AIDC/RFID analyst for VDC, stated, "Once again EM Microelectronic holds the number one position in worldwide shipments of RFID transponder ICs. EM Microelectronic remains a strategic leader in the global RFID IC market, effectively leveraging its partnerships, product portfolio, and RFID IC design and manufacturing process capabilities."
Commenting on the continuing rise of RFID technology, Mougahed Darwish, president of the management board of EM Microelectronic said, "The worldwide market for remote monitoring has accelerated, with the increased focus on security and tracking in diverse applications, ranging from transportation systems to manufacturing and agriculture."
EM's RFID products feature read-only, read/write, anti-collision, 125kHz, 13.56MHz, UHF, and 2.45GHz operation. They are used in applications such as access control, animal ID, logistics, industrial automation, car immobilization for theft protection, toll collection, plus bus and rail payment systems. The biggest growth market is expected to be supply chain management (SCM), where EM's tags and readers are being used at the pallet-, case-, and item-level.
EM also recently announced a special wafer thinning service that produces wafers thin enough to be embedded in clothing and paper. Applications of the thin wafers include RFID and smart cards, security paper, anti-counterfeit measures in the clothing industry, implantable medical electronics and hearing aids, and stacked ICs.
Several companies of The Swatch Group Ltd., EM's parent company, are also actively involved in the field of RFID. Earlier this year, Swatch acquired Sokymat IDent Component GmbH (SID), a major provider of RFID transponders for car immobilizers. Swatch also markets RFID tags embedded in watches for instant contactless access to ski resorts, using a Swatch "Snowpass," and for other applications using a Swatch Access watch, an alternative to contactless chip cards.
