The outlook is good for steady growth of the RFID market through the next five years, according to ABI Research. The firm had made downward adjustments in its RFID forecasts for 2009 and 2010 because of the poor economy.

Practice director Michael Liard reports: "We expect the overall RFID market to exceed $8.25bn in 2014, or approximately $7.46bn with automobile immobilization excluded. That would represent a 14 percent compound annual growth rate over the next five years." (Automobile immobilization is the largest single RFID application and has a low growth rate which impacts overall market size, so it is often excluded when examining market trends.)

This year alone, the RFID market appears set to reach a size of $4.47bn (without automobile immobilization), 15 percent more than the adjusted 2009 figure.

"Not all segments of the RFID market are created equal," adds Liard. "To 2014, the greatest growth will be found in RTLS [Real Time Location Systems], baggage handling, animal ID, and item-level tagging in fashion apparel and retail."

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