Robert Foppiani

NEW YORK CITY—December 13, 2006—The market for passive radio frequency identification (RFID) labels — particularly UHF labels — has not yet grown as stakeholders in the industry had hoped. According to a new study from ABI Research, the reason these core components of RFID tags have failed to achieve their expected potential is the relationship between prices, volumes, and the business case for RFID. In a classic “vicious circle” dynamic, production costs for UHF labels (hence for Gen 2 passive labels) are still at levels tending to inhibit the high-volume deployments that would provide economies of scale. Research analyst Robert Foppiani says, “At current