Feature Story

Growth Potential of RFID in China Looks Promising

By Raghu Das

The development of RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) in China has long been heavily supported by the Chinese government and can be readily seen in large projects, such as national identification cards, passports and subway ticket applications. The entry barrier is usually high for these applications, as suppliers need to have strong government connections and relatively mature technologies. The applications have typically used HF (high frequency) RFID systems, which account for 80% of the RFID systems currently deployed in China. As a result, the HF supply chain is mature and well resourced.

Chinese UHF Market Share Increases - And So Do Suppliers

Now China is a large exporter of RFID - going from having a global market supply share in UHF (Ultra High Frequency) RFID inlays of less than 10% in 2012 to 30% in 2015, with its usage primarily being tagging apparel by clothing retailers around the world.

It's estimated there are currently more than 150 RFID suppliers in China. The largest suppliers in the main positions of RFID value chain in China are shown in the following table.

Product	Large Suppliers in China (listed by category, not volume)
Chip	CEC Huada, Datang Microelectronics, Fudan Microelectronics, Huahong Integrated Circuit, Nationz Technologies, Tongfang Microelectronics, Quanray Electronics
Inlays, tags and cards	AISINO, Arizon RFID, ASK-Tongfang, Eastcompeace, Invengo, Shanghai China Card, Smartchip Microelectronics, Tatwah Smartech, Tung Kong, Xiamen Xinde
Interrogators	AISINO, Beiyang Electric Group? Invengo? Sense Technology? Shenzhen Aerospace Innotech? Shenzhen CLOU Electronics, Shenzhen Genvict Technologies
Systems/system integrators/facilities management	AISINO, Invengo, Shanghai RFID System Technology (Shanghai Belling), Shenzhen Seaever Intelligent Technology, Tsinghua Tongfang, ZTE Corporation

Source IDTechEx Research report "RFID in China 2015-2025" www.idtechex.com/china

Governmental Priorities

So far, China has lagged in adoption of UHF RFID compared to the U.S. and Europe. As a result, UHF chip design and manufacturing development are listed as one of the priorities in China's IoT development, culminating in several government-funded programs to develop products such as UHF RFID readers, for example.

Market Size and Forecast

The value of RFID in China as a whole was $1.7 billion in 2014, with the value of tags accounting for $430 million and readers $549 million. IDTechEx Research expects the market to grow to $2.8 billion in 2020.

Learn more at www.IDTechEx.com/China.

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