A study by Visiongain entitled, "RFID Report 2006-2011: Opportunities and challenges with cellular RFID" found that 62% of all cell phone handsets shipped in 2011 will have tag and/or reader capability. This number, up from less than 1% in 2006, can be attributed to falling costs as NFC chips are integrated into mobile devices, according to visiongain, a London-based research firm.
The researchers concluded that the lack of a standard application is "slowing the cell phone manufacturers response." Rather than wait for a single standard the authors suggest that " targeted applications can be constructed from these modules to quickly and cost effectively implement solutions."
"The logical extension of both RFID tag and reader technology is into cell phones, PCs and PDAs, and the industry is beginning to market some of these options. Fully one quarter of the world's population is mobile and it represents the largest opportunity for wide deployment of NFC-based contact-less tag and/or reader applications," says visiongain analyst and the report's lead author Nancee Ruzicka.
Visiongain expects the standardization of Gen2 to galvanize the market, although there are still questions regarding global interoperability, especially in China, which is part of many supply chains.
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