Yue’s Yappings

Last year, WalMart announced that it would require its suppliers to use RFID chips to make it easier to track inventory through its supply chain. WalMart’s supply chain spans the globe, with a large percentage of its merchandise made in China.

At the same time, the Chinese government identified RFID as a key technology. China’s 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) sets specific goals for Chinese companies to become world-wide leaders in RFID technology.

There are two major types of RFID, High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency. High Frequency (13.56 Mhz) is good for applications that require small read ranges - up to about 20 inches. Examples include security access, checking out books from the library and payments (think of vending machines). Most deployed RFID systems use HF, including Smart cards which are used for a variety of applications including transportation, ticketing, anti-counterfeiting, etc.

In China, the biggest HF opportunity is the next generation of citizen identification cards. The United States is following the same route - it is about to start issuing RFID enabled passports.

Ultra High Frequency (900-912 Mhz) is good for applications that require longer read ranges - up to 30 feet. Examples include warehouse inventory, tracking vehicles at toll booths, etc. UHF devices are harder to build than HF devices, so therefore are more expensive and limited to only a few countries. Chinese companies have mastered HF technology, but have not yet mastered UHF. This of course will change in the near future.

UHF technology is still new, therefore, it will take several more years for a robust market to develop. Nevertheless, there is no shortage of competition in the Chinese UHF market. Many US RFID companies already have distributors in China - including Alien, Symbols, Intermac, AWID, Sirit, WJ Communication, Thingmagic and my company, Skyetek. Some companies are even skipping the US market entirely and going after the Chinese market, which is currently much more active.