IDTechEx

CAMBRIDGE, U.K.—The eighth IDTechEx RFID Europe event broke all previous records with over 350 delegates from 19 countries who heard major corporations sharing their RFID success and needs. According to IDTechEx, the four biggest RFID sectors by tag value in 2007 are contactless cards (the Chinese national ID card project shipping 350 million cards alone), animal tagging (due to government pressures in Asia-Pacific and South America), then passport tagging and finally item level tagging, such as clothing and books. Presenter Marks & Spencer confirmed that they have already used 100 million RFID tags on clothing—the biggest order placed by any retailer for RFID, and

By Dr Peter Harrop IDTechEx RFID for Animals, Food, and Farming will become the largest RFID market of all because it will benefit the food supply chain in a huge number of ways including livestock disease control and merchandising prepared food. This $9.4 billion market in 2017 for RFID systems and tags will also be based on rapid paybacks from improved traceability, condition monitoring, crime reduction and error prevention (for example, as currently used in milk storage in New Zealand). It will be powered by such innovations as RFID tags that do not contain a silicon chip and are therefore one tenth of the

BOSTON, Mass.—IDTechEx, a leading provider of research, consulting, and events in printed electronics and RFID, has relocated its global headquarters to Boston, Mass. In addition, Susann Reuter, based in Chemnitz, Germany, has joined the board of directors in order to expand the company’s activities in Europe. These developments are a result of customer demand and form part of the company’s strategy for rapid global growth. “IDTechEx now has staff based in three continents—America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific—representing our commitment to providing truly global coverage of developments in printed electronics and RFID,” said Raghu Das, CEO.

The RFID star isn’t shining quite as brightly as it was when Wal-Mart mandated that crates and pallets from its top 100 suppliers carry RFID tags. Once heralded as the next big thing in packaging, RFID usage still has not made it all the way down to the item level on a widespread basis. Still, it incorporates one of the first implementations of printed electronics and comes to mind for many when printed electronics is mentioned. However, printed electronics does not just mean RFID, and package printers may want to educate themselves now about it to become experts before their competition does. While the

Cambridge Mass.—More than 180 attendees from 12 countries came to the first IDTechEx Printed Electronics Asia conference and exhibition. The majority of delegates were from Japan, with many surprise attendances from major Japanese institutions getting involved in this exciting new topic. In addition, delegates from Korea, China, Taiwan, Europe, and North America came to learn from the 30 speakers including Sony, Konarka, Epson, Marubeni, Hitachi and Nokia. Eighteen companies joined the IDTechEx hosted tours to visit companies such as Toppan Printing, Toppan Forms, Dai Nippon Printing, Hodogaya Chemical and The University of Tokyo. These tours provided exclusive insight into the companies’ activities not easily

IDTechEx This year, for the first time, China has become the world’s largest market for RFID by value. A new report, “RFID in China 2007-2017,” is the summation of extensive new research by IDTechEx analysts including Chinese native Ning Xiao. Many companies in China were visited and interviewed to obtain this information, which is not available elsewhere. Here Ning Xiao summarises some of the findings (www.idtechex.com/china). RFID Market Size in China For the first time, China has become the world’s largest market for RFID by value. In 2007, the spend on RFID in East Asia will be $2.7 billion of $4.96 billion

By Dr. Peter Harrop IDTechEx The printed electronics industry is a fast-growth sector with global activity and exciting new developments occurring in printed, partially-printed, organic, and thin-film electronics markets. IDTechEx will highlight the developments in this field and recognize the efforts of the companies involved at the IDTechEx Printed Electronics USA Awards taking place in San Francisco on Nov. 13, 2008. The IDTechEx Printed Electronics Awards recognize company innovation, success and development. The award ceremony will be held at the industry’s largest gathering - Printed Electronics USA in San Francisco, Nov. 13-14, bringing together companies from around the world. The Awards are hosted by

Printed electronics is growing up. The debate about what is organic and what is inorganic (most devices include both) is abating. The unimaginative marketing of printed and thin film electronics as incremental improvements in flat screen and mobile phone displays, for example, is being questioned. There is something to learn here from the history of RFID. Many RFID tags are partly printed today and many will be totally printed within ten years, so the parallel in marketing terms is interesting. Both printed electronics and RFID are enabling technologies, not specific products or solutions. In the early days, imaginative backers of RFID realized that the

Printed electronics is growing up. The debate about what is organic and what is inorganic (most devices include both) is abating. The unimaginative marketing of printed and thin film electronics as incremental improvements in flat screen and mobile phone displays, for example, is being questioned. There is something to learn here from the history of RFID. Many RFID tags are partly printed today and many will be totally printed within ten years, so the parallel in marketing terms is interesting. Both printed electronics and RFID are enabling technologies, not specific products or solutions. In the early days, imaginative backers of RFID realized that the

By Raghu Das, CEO IDTechEx IDTechEx conferences on Printed Electronics in the USA and Europe are highly regarded. By popular request, the company is now staging a Printed Electronics Asia conference and exhibition in Tokyo, Sept. 10-11. The title is carefully chosen because both organic and inorganic electronics have a great future. It is therefore best to explore all the possibilities and achievements. Speaker Yasuyuki Watanabe, from the Center for Frontier Science at Chiba University, says, “We believe that printed electronics is the key technology for advanced flexible electronic devices employing organic materials.” He will talk on the topic of vertical transistors which can