TAIWAN and the growing worlwide rfid market

San Jose, CA (August 25, 2004) – Translated with permission by Maggie Li (original story published in Win-Win Weekly, Taiwan)

RFID has become a well-known acronym in the high-tech industry – the number of applications for which it can be used has grown, demonstrating its versatility. The Tech Museum uses it to customize each visitor’s experience, allowing visitors to create personal web pages all their own. At Great America amusement park, parents are relieved from worrying about their children with RFID bands that trace their whereabouts in the park. Another high-tech company has developed golf balls with embedded RFID, allowing golfers to track their balls after a double bogey into the dunes.

Last week the Taiwan RFID delegation, led by the Ministry of State, visited the US to hold discussions with US government councils, public and private companies, and other RFID organizations, to promote Taiwan’s role and capabilities in the growing RFID market. The delegation included scholars, industry leaders as well as government officials.

The delegation shared some of the recent RFID developments – the US Department of Defense as well as the Customs and Dept. of Transportation have already set time schedules for the implementation of RFID for security purposes. In Singapore, the government has also pushed RFID technology in supply chain management. The Japanese government has also invested heavily (over 3 billion yen) to accelerate RFID IC development.

With Taiwan’s strong global role as a semiconductor and IC player, undoubtedly it will play an important and critical role in RFID IC design. In addition, opportunities to implement RFID products in Taiwan abound. In addition to supply chain tracking, the delegation also listed uses such as medicine control, animal control, detection of fake products, etc. Although the industry is still in its early stages, it’s a long-term commitment with plenty of business opportunities that Taiwan will be a part of.